The Sun and The Moon
by RinoaShadow
Summary: Lenalee has a disease which forbids her from going into sunlight. Komui has looked after her since their parents died. But one night she meets a boy called Allen, Komui grows frustrated that fools like him will be what kills his only little sister.
1. Chapter 1: Isolation

_Lenalee has a disease which forbids her from going into sunlight. Komui has looked after her since their parents died. But one night she meets a boy called Allen, Komui grows frustrated that fools like him will be what kills his only little sister. _

Possibly just a _little_ OOC in some chapters.

Hey there! ^_^ this is a story I've been thinking of writing for a long time, and it's been collecting metaphorical dust sitting in my hard drive for a long time. I just do't want to give up on this like my last… so I tried to write at least 10 chapters before uploading the first :'D

Anyway~ this is gonna be a little more modern day setting, but still same characters, and same general idea of the black order and what not. Of course, minus Lenalee as an Exorcist for a while maybe.

**ooo**

Chapter 1 – Isolation

It was raining again. It didn't rain often in the town but it did today. Komui wasn't home either. He was at work, at the Black Order on an exciting mission of sorts in the day light. Well… technically speaking, he didn't do _anything_ like missions. He was simply the Supervisor of the Science Department. But it absolutely _had_ to be more exciting than what Lenalee did all day long.

Lenalee tapped the windowpane as a fly buzzed past the window beaded with droplets of rain. The sight of the rain was however, somewhat ruined as a screen was covering the window. They were special screens, transparent, and let the light in, but protected Lenalee from UV rays.

Her entire life, Lenalee had only been exposed to the sun once. She was just a new born baby then; when it was discovered that she was suffering from Xeroderma Pigmentosum, or to be put simply, XP. That was the first and only time she went out since.

The rain was such a peaceful sound. She loved it very much. She wished she could go out in the rain, and dance around in it. Lenalee quickly looked over to the clock, thinking Komui would be home soon.

2:15 pm. In fact, Komui would be home any minute now. Lenalee rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly, and quickly slipped into her pyjama pants with little cats on them, and tiptoed across the room.

Suddenly, the sound Lenalee dreaded echoed through the house. The door was opening and Komui was coming through. Lenalee hurried even faster now.

"Don't think I didn't see you, Lenalee Lee." A bland voice scolded in the other room. Lenalee instantly stopped on the spot, cringing, scrunching up her eyes. She slowly turned around like a rusty machine in desperate need of oil. As she turned, her expression changed to a bored and frustrated look.

"…Hey Nii-san… I was just…" She stumbled looking for an excuse as an unimpressed face looked down on her from the next room.

"Nice try, Lenalee. Why are you awake? You're not supposed to wake up until at least 6. Where's Mrs. Clarkson?" Komui wondered, looking around, through halls.

"She's not … here." Lenalee tried to look as innocent as possible and just smiled rather poorly.

"Not here?" Komui's eyes widened.

"She didn't come…I- I don't think…" Lenalee coughed as her brother just raised an eyebrow.

"You don't _think?_" Komui's eyes narrowed and seemed very unamused. "… don't tell me you shooed her away again."

That's right. Again.

"I don't need a baby sitter, Nii-san! I'm capable of waking up to take my meds and going out at night. You know you can trust me-" Komui sometimes was gone for days on end, busy with work. It was very hard on him, having to be away from his dear little sister. Besides, she was also her tutor a few days a week.

Komui could have thrown a fit at this. Lenalee always knew Komui was dedicated to protecting her from anything that put her life at risk, and paid good money for someone to look after her while he was working for sometimes weeks on end, but Lenalee just felt that an intelligent 16 year old like herself was perfectly capable of looking after themselves.

"Really? Then why are you up now? The reason I have someone look after you is to make sure you don't wander off and do what you want during the day, and so you aren't tired at night!" Komui scolded; annoyed that Lenalee had yet again woken up in the middle of the day. Lenalee frowned and stepped closer to Komui in the kitchen.

"What do you think, that I'll just wander off outside or something? I'm not stupid." Lenalee rolled her eyes, folding her arms.

Komui wasn't so sure. He glared at his moody younger sister, narrowing her eyes and looking away. It grew very silent, until Lenalee aimlessly kicked at the ground weakly and headed off to her bed.

"I'm going to bed…" She grunted. Lenalee seemed to be in a bad mood that day. She wasn't normally though. She was normally very kind and silent, but it was a real pain when Komui restricted her so much. She wasn't ungrateful- after all, she had a brother who was taking good care of her since always. She was not ungrateful, just sad.

"Behave." Komui rolled his eyes and turned back to the kitchen table to unpack some things.

"_Goodnight, _Nii-san...!" Lenalee called out stochastically from her bedroom as she rolled into her bed, wrapping herself in a cocoon of green plush sheets, matching the wasabi green walls. Komui only shook his head and made a grumpy 'hmph' noise.

Komui was only trying to do everything he knew how to protect his little sister from the world. He may have been often mistaken for harsh, but it was his job as a brother.

He had to _beg_ the order to let him leave every now and then to see Lenalee. No matter how Komui emphasized the severity of Lenalee's illness, Central wouldn't budge.

**ooo**

A sudden and annoying buzzing of an alarm clock woke up the previously asleep little Lenalee, reaching out to whack the clock so hard it'd finally stop its incessant buzzing.

"Mmm… I'm _sleeping_!" She groaned, unravelling herself out of her sheets and blankets, literally flopping onto the floor beneath her. Her bed was in between two walls, almost in a small rectangular prism missing from the wall. She hung a curtain above her bed also- she liked having a small confined space of her own. It was like sleeping in a cupboard or a wardrobe to her.

Still a bit dazed, she sat up, looking around. The sun was at last going down, leaving behind a bluey-purple sunset behind it. Lenalee rejoiced as she could finally go outside.

Lenalee was only permitted to go outside at night, as she would die if she ever went out into the daylight. Komui didn't like her going out alone at night, but sometimes she just did. He in fact, hated it very much when she insisted she was old enough to go out on her own.

"Nii-san?" She called out, scoping out the apartment. She had no bedroom of her own, but more of an open area that connected to other rooms and her bed was in the wall.

There was no response however. She decided she should get dressed now.

"Nii-san?" She called out again, making her way into the kitchen.

"Right in here, Lenalee!" he chimed out, coming from the opposite end of the apartment. She followed the voice until she reached a dark room, to see her brother leaning intensely over papers.

"Nii-san? What are you doing?" She asked him, puzzled.

"Working! I think I've finally figured out how to build a fully functional Komurin- coffee resistant!" He laughed evilly, making Lenalee nervous. She'd heard stories… stories of her brother's insane Komurin Inventions.

"Oh no…" She sighed. "Nii-san, can I go out?" She asked, remembering that was why she'd come to find him in the first place.

"Well I suppose there's no stopping you… but please be careful, Lenalee! I don't want some lowlife touching or talking to my darling little Lenalee! Stay somewhere populated! If that happens I want you to run back straight home and then they'll answer to ME! I'll show them exactly what Komurin is made of!" He began wailing about, trailing off, not even noticing his sister leave.

**ooo**

I hope you enjoyed and didn't get too bored :'D

I'll upload the next chapter once it's finished with touch ups and what not ^_^

MAN! I'm trying to figure out those stupid line things… it doesn't seem to be working.


	2. Chapter 2: A Fated Night

I decided I might as well just upload the second chapter. It's pretty much ready, anyway.

I decided to base the night market in this chapter around oen I went to when I was in Vietnam. In fact, it's like a mix of a night market I went to, and a park I went to when I was there… now I'm just mushing 'em together for the story :'D It was quite cool… I love night markets 3 but anyway, that's probably why it'll seem weird having a park right near a night market, but hey- it's my imagination, and I'll write what I want, how I see and experience it.

**ooo **

Chapter 2 – A Fated Night

Out in the night markets, golden lights shone brightly making Lenalee smile cheerfully, happiness glimmering in her eyes. She wandered about through the crowds of people, looking at items for sale, even though she wasn't even planning to purchase anything.

The air was warm, and smelled of delicious baked goodies selling around the market, along with fruit too. She loved the night markets very much. It was the only thing she would ever get vaguely like the outside civilization.

Soon, she made her way to a small garden, with little fairy lights dangling from the trees, the reflections of the little glowing bulbs shimmering upon the rippling water's surface of the large pond.

Lenalee always sat on the park bench, and watched people pass by, through the market, and the moon's reflection on the water too. It was full, and glowing beautifully. It lit up the pitch black skies so much that there were even shadows formed from the light.

"I might as well enjoy it now." She thought aloud, sighing. After all… it was the closest she was ever gonna _get_ to natural light….

Breathing in the fresh air, she then exhaled slowly, enjoying every moment of it. Fresh air never felt so good to her.

As she took a sip from a water bottle she'd brought with her, she almost chocked on it, after noticing a boy walking by on the side walk, just across from the large pond. What caught her eye the most was how his hair was put white- silver maybe with the help of the moon. She'd never seen someone so young with a head of hair like that. To add to her fascination, he appeared to have a blood red marking upon his face.

"How interesting…" she remarked, not realising her eyes were following the boy until he was completely out of sight.

As it got later, Lenalee felt herself grow tired; had she stayed in bed all day, maybe she could have stayed out longer. She didn't want to return yet- the stars were coming out and shining ever so brightly it could almost make her tear up. She may not have been able to stand out in the sun before, but she could still enjoy the stars and the moon

Lenalee was able to enjoy the stars and the moon unlike anyone else, as they were all she had in the sky at night.

Even though she didn't want to, she felt she should return to her brother anyway.

Slowly, she dragged her heavy feet behind her as she made her way through the market, smiling as she walked, and thinking about how wonderful the night could be. Yet, it was the only time she knew.

Suddenly, she was interrupted by a merchant, trying to persuade her to buy a piece of jewellery. Although, Lenalee got the _skeevies_ around this man, who looked lustily at her.

"My, my, what beautiful hair you have. I think a hair piece like this would suit it very well." She offered, holding out a silver hairpin towards her.

Lenalee smiled nervously, hoping not to offend him with her anxiety around him. "N-no thank you." She politely declined before trying to head off. The man stopped in her path and held out a purple necklace infront of her.

"This would suit your pale skin well. You would look simply ravishing in it." He said, steping a bit closer to her.

"No—I'm sorry, I _really_ must be going home." She shook her head, standing her ground firmly.

"But please- if you stay just a minute more, I'm sure I could-" The merchant was interrupted when a voice came calling out for Lenalee.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you. I thought I told you not to wander off." A young man scolded sternly at Lenalee, walking beside her. She had never once met the boy in her life, until she remembered the snow white hair, and crimson scar marking his left eye, which appeared like blood trickling down his face.

She had never met the boy, but she played along, realising he was offering her a helping hand out of her sticky situation. She just hoped her wasn't just trying to steal her off for _his self_.

"I'm sorry sir, but we must be going now." He spoke firmly, placing a hand on Lenalee's shoulder. "Come on." He told Lenalee, turning around and walking off with her.

Lenalee sighed with relief. She was especially thankful it wouldn't result in her needing to tell her brother, hence _another_ Komurin robot to scare off the norms… again. She felt tense walking beside a stranger with his hand on her shoulder, but she knew he was just trying to help.

The two managed to get out just out of the market, standing right beside some glowing golden lights.

"Thank you so much for that…" Lenalee thanked the boy, nodding a little with a smile. The boy shook his head in response.

"It's nothing. You looked a little anxious to get away is all." He said to her. "You probably shouldn't have been alone at night though." He added shrugging a bit.

Lenalee went a few shades of crimson with embarrassment, her eyes shifting around nervously. "I can take care of myself—" she began defensively.

"I can see _that_." The mysterious boy chuckled, making Lenalee frown a little, before remembering that he _had _come to help her, and if he hadn't… it could have been bad. Lenalee let out a small laugh too, realising her own foolishness.

"What were you doing out on your own anyway?" He wondered aloud, hoping this wouldn't cause the girl to think of him suspiciously.

She began to walk around a little, as though pondering in thought for a good answer, she her hands together behind her back. "Well, my brother was busy with work. He's a little reluctant to let me go out on my own though, but there's no stopping me." She giggled as she circled the boy.

Circling around the strange boy, she noticed his odd attire too- a coal black coat with a white cross on the back, and white lining around the edges, and odd patterns too.

"Well, he's probably right." He said starting to walk off next to the girl. "I'll escort you home if you'd like." He offered with a smile.

Lenalee blushed at how much of a gentleman this boy was. She thought she could trust him- he'd helped her out this far hadn't he? Cautiously, she walked beside him with a little grin.

"You don't seem as though you're from around here." Lenalee pointed out, as she'd never seen him before now, and she would remember if she had- he was pretty hard to forget.

He shook his head softly. "No, I travel a lot for my… um… job." He explained, kicking a rock along the pavement.

Lenalee then kicked the rock that he had just kicked further along. "That sound's exciting. I wish I could travel." She giggled enviously, watching the boy kick the rock again once they'd caught up to it. The young man smirked at her as though say 'it's _on_.'

It had become like a game between them, passing back and forth.

"Then why don't you?" He asked her. She shrugged as she gave the rock a little flick with her left foot.

"I don't think I'd find the time to." Lenalee shrugged, trying to sound as normal as possible. She wasn't exactly a _busy_ girl. But there was nothing more awkward to reply to than '_Oh, I can't go out in the sun or else I die. Too bad, huh?'._

Suddenly, as she kicked the rock too hard, it flew off the pathway and into the gutter.

"You lose." The scarred boy smirked.

Lenalee raised an eyebrow, laughing perplexed by this. "I _what?_ I lose? What does _that_ mean?" she wondered.

"Never mind." He said looking back forward.

"I live across the street from here. Let's cross." She suggested, turning to her left at the empty road.

The two finally reached the door to Lenalee's home, and turned to each other with a smile. They remained awkwardly silent for a few moments, looking into each other's eyes. Lenalee was so amazed at how much eyes could say to someone, just with a few seconds of gazing into them. it was so true, the saying about them- they were a window to a person.

Suddenly, she coughed and stepped back. "Well… Thank you very much for your help Mr…" the two then laughing at the realisation that they didn't even know each other's names yet.

"Allen; Allen Walker." He replied, holding out his right hand to her.

She blushed a blazing red and shook his gloved hand. "I'm Lenalee Lee." She introduced herself cheerfully. This sort of human contact was not easy on Lenalee- it was literally the first time she'd met someone her age by herself.

Truth be told? She wasn't good at it either by the sounds of things. She was so shocked to be talking and interacting with someone in a heartfelt way like this.

"It's been a pleasure." He said before heading off, Lenalee waving just a little bit; feeling a rush of sadness to see him go. She wasn't sure why, but she had already begun to feel an attachment to the boy. Maybe it was okay- after all, he did help her out when she needed it. He was probably the first person she'd been able to have a civilized conversation with for a long time. Her brother wasn't exactly her idea of '_civilized'_.

In the meantime, Komui would kill this Allen person if he found out about this, then he would go on a nice long rant about his dear Lenalee's _purity _being at stake. Yes. Lenalee was going to keep this secret. Without question.

**ooo**

Hope this wasn't too cheesy xD but if you don't like cheesy, you ain't gonna wanna read the next one. Well… not that bad… it has… maybe one paragraph of cheesiness? xD

Well… bye?


	3. Chapter 3: First Friend

So~ 3 is finally UP! ;D

I just wanted to let you guys know, THANK YOU! For all the favorites, and reviews and alerts! :) makes me a happy girl ^^

Anyway~ I hope you enjoy :)

**ooo**

Chapter 3 – First Friend

Lenalee arrived home to see an empty kitchen, completely clean, untouched by even a single speck of dust.

"Well. Nii-san clearly hasn't made dinner." She rolled her eyes, dumping her back on the spotless kitchen bench. It was just as well though, since Komui was hardly any good at cooking. Last time he attempted to cook his sister a meal, a tea towel caught on fire. A very sweet gesture, but not exactly a 'genius' idea. However, Lenalee was a brilliant cook; after all, she had plenty of spare time on her hands to practise. Mrs Clarkson taught her well.

Most of all, she loved to _bake_ in her spare time- Chocolate cake was her most favourite food.

Lenalee peered from behind the door to her brother's study (Which he hardly used as he spent more time at the Order.) to find him sleeping on his desk, drooling on his papers. So much for that great inspiration burst for Komurin… what was it, 23? 24 maybe?

Lenalee let a little giggle escape as how harmless Komui looked when he was sleeping. That was saying a lot… though she didn't know what he was like at work, she knew one thing was certain about her brother… he was _dangerous_.

It was quite upsetting knowing that even when Komui was home, she hardly was able to spend enough time with him. The Order always needed him back as soon as they could have him; and since Lenalee's sleeping patterns were different to most people, she could probably see him for 4 hours a day when he was at home. Her poor social workers had to adjust to Lenalee's body clock as well.

One did a night shift, to stay with her, tutor her, or take care of her while she was up and about in the night hours, while the other kept watch over her for a few hours when she was asleep.

Komui had suggested that Lenalee have the same body clock as everybody else, but Lenalee wouldn't be able to enjoy the night time as much then, when she would go outside. Lenalee sometimes enjoyed pulling all-nighters when she could; and sometimes, Lenalee _would_, in fact stay awake during the day and sleep at night.

Wandering into her room after sitting and reading for a while, she took a brief look up at the clock realising it was probably her bed time; 3 am or so.

She rolled into her little bed and pulled up her sheets, ready to fall asleep.

**Ooo**

"_Komui, we need you back."_ A voice spoke over the phone.

"But I only just got here. I can't leave Lenalee so soon." Komui argued, worried for his sister's sake.

"_Sorry, Komui. We don't think you can keep going back any more. You can't be away from work so often, And you know how Rouvellier is."_ They said, cold and monotonously, horrifying Komui at the mere thought of leaving Lenalee in a social workers care for good. It would be cruel to leave her alone.

"No, I can't do that to her. Please, don't make me leave her." He pleaded, clenching the telephone harder.

"_Komui, you'll have to take it up with Central. Besides. This would hardly be a problem if you didn't procrastinate so much and did your work..." _

"What if I brought Lenalee with me? To live at the order?" He asked, suddenly becoming desperate. He knew that central would most likely not allow it, but he felt it was worth something. Anything.

It may have been a rash decision, but it might have been necessary. But he _knew_ he could do it! He could prepare the Headquarters properly, putting up screens on the windows to protect Keeping her confined to the lower floors, where there weren't any windows or exposure to the sun, and even change some of the lights so they wouldn't harm her with UV.

He had to convince Central first. They would disapprove, he knew for sure; but it was his only option now. Once in the Black Order, you cannot leave it, but you could not communicate with family once there. Komui was a special case as he had a very ill sister to take care of (plus- he was the supervisor… he _made_ the rules.)

"_What? Are you serious? Komui, we've told you, you must take it up with Central."_

"Then I'll do just that."

**ooo**

That night Lenalee got herself ready for another walk out in the park. The night before, creepy though it may have been, it didn't put her off returning back to the markets or parks. She just knew which venders to avoid now.

"I have to be more careful." She thought to herself. "People aren't going to swoop in and save me _every_ night." She muttered with a bored look, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Lenalee couldn't help but feel that she looked dull.

She decided to try to look nice that night, even though it was nothing special to her; wearing a pretty long black shirt with the sleeves covering her hands, dark blue jeans and black converse. She also wore a pair of simple black studded earrings, which complimented her dark eyes. Her hair was short and spiky, and was a glossy deep sea green shade, which you might be able to say would glow in the sun, but that was hardly possible for her. You'd know they were lying if they ever said that.

One might say that she was just hoping she might see Allen again; yet she seemed to deny it to herself even.

She wanted to say without trouble that she just wanted meet someone new again. But really, she just wanted to look nice, to feel like the normal girl without the burns and discolouration. Last night made her feel like she could meet new and kind people, and have friends if she just tried. But she was always rather sensitive about her skin, which was a little bit flaky and peeled off sometimes; and it was easy to notice her burns, which made her feel self-conscious. It all came with the Xeroderma Pigmentosum.

However, considering her condition, her skin was still beautiful and pale; she had an overly protective brother after all. He wouldn't let a single beam of light touch her delicate skin, no matter what. However, she did get nasty sunburns sometimes, which were far worse than normal sunburns for somebody. Full on exposure to the sun without any protection could result in death.

"Lenalee-" Komui piped, in surprise at his sister taking pride in her appearance for once. "You look nice." He commented, taking a sip from a mug he very much disliked, for not having his pink bunny on…

Lenalee nodded to show gratitude. "Thank you, Nii-san!" she beamed, unable to control her heart fluttering with joy, that for once she felt like a normal person, able to look nice when they went out.

He simplied waved her away until something clicked in his mind, like something just snapped into place. Komui narrowed his eyes at her, glaring into her now confused eyes. "Nii-san?" she asked.

"There's not a _boy_ is there…?" he interrogated, squinting at her, as she laughed at this remark.

"AFTER ALL I'VE DONE FOR YOU, YOU'RE GOING TO RUN OFF WITH SOME BOY WHO CAN'T EVEN PROTECT YOU FROM THE SUN! I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME! DON'T LEEEEAVE MEEEE!" He sobbed in an unsightly manner, in his usual fits of displeasure, worrying about the innocence of his dearest little sister.

"_Nii-saaan!_" Lenalee whined embarrassed at the man grovelling at her feet. "I'm just going for a walk!" She groaned, patting her brother on the head. "Good bye. I'll be back in a few hours."

Komui had wanted to tell Lenalee her options about her lifestyle that was soon to change, but he did indeed get caught up in the entire 'Lenalee's Purity' fiasco again. That's right. _Again_.

It wasn't the first time Lenalee had to move to suit Komui's work- China was quite obviously too far for Komui to make regular visits, but it was when she was quite young that she moved. It also wasn't the first time Komui had worried for Lenalee's innocence. Lenalee would simply roll her eyes and kick her brother in the shins; feeling mocked by her brother for just saying that it was possible she could even _have_ an ordinary relationship with a human other than Komui and her social workers.

"_Stay away from boys!_" Komui hissed, still on his knees glowering as Lenalee simply gave her brother a right handed thumbs-up above her head without even looking back, followed by a slammed door behind her.

**ooo**

Walking along the dimly lit streets, Lenalee shivered. It was fairly colder than the night before. In fact, it was quite warm that night. But tonight, the air was chilled and still. In the end she wore a black coat that reaches the back of her knees to keep warm.

Finally at her park bench by the pond, she lay on it, dreamily watching the fairy lights dangling from the trees above. The soft and tranquil sounds of wind chimes rung gently in her ears, making her sleepily drift off into a serene state. It was a time when she was able to be at peace, and enjoy sleeping, and relaxing with the sounds of crickets nearby, singing sweet lullabies as if just for her.

Quite coincidentally, a gentle voice beckoned for her attention, almost as soon as she was about to doze off.

"I thought I told you not to go out on your own." It laughed from behind her, startling her. She shot straight up, frightened by the unexpectedness of it. Placing a hand upon her chest quite suddenly, heart beating rabidly beneath it, Lenalee turned around to find none other than the boy with ghost white hair and the crimson marking.

"It's you...! _Give me a heart attack, why don't you?..._" she cried out quite suddenly realising it. Honestly, though she wanted to see him, she was really not expecting to see him ever again.

"You know, if you fall asleep, you'll get robbed." He added teasingly, completely ignoring Lenalee's last statement.

"Oh… thanks?... what are you, safety police?" she giggled, looking up to the boy leaning over the back of the chair.

"Well, it certainly can't hurt…" he said, shrugging. Yeah, well for what it was worth he probably was right about that.

"Good to see you again, Allen." She changed the subject, realising the point was not in fact, moot.

"It's nice to see you again too, Lenalee." Allen quickly pushed himself away from the chair, walking around her side of it. "So… why is it that you're out here every night?" he wondered out of curiosity.

Lenalee stuck her nose up in the air, looking away. "Hmpf. Maybe I _like_ it out here." She joked, putting on a snooty voice. It wasn't too hard to cover up why, for new people that was. For people who'd seen her come out almost every night, but never day would surely be growing even more suspicious every day. In fact, Lenalee knew about the rumours spread about her. She could sometimes overhear people talk about 'the girl who mysteriously came out at night, walked through the market and never bought a thing, and then sat on an old wooden park bench and then disappeared, like a ghost'.

"Besides, you don't know for certain I come out every night. What if I just happened to want to come out again? You don't know me." She acted pompously in a light hearted way, causing Allen to chuckle again at her.

"I'd like to. You seem like an interesting person." He said, walking off, closer to the pond to look at the reflection of the lights.

Lenalee rolled her eyes, hiding a little grin. Interesting? Not particularly. Not in her opinion, that was. "Stop with the flattery." She laughed turning away to cover her red cheeks. Pushing herself up from her seat with a hop in her step, she went to stand beside Allen, admiring the little glowing bulbs.

"Looks like fireflies, doesn't it?" she thought aloud, gazing up into the trees. She'd never thought it was cliché to believe so, because to her, it was the truth.

"Yeah… it does." He remarked, eyes glowing with curiosity, fixated upon the lights.

"So, why is it that you're around then? Work?" She asked, turning her attention back to Allen. She was still a little confused that a boy who seemed to be no older than 15 had a 'job'. A full time one for that matter.

"Yeah." He said very simply, frustrating Lenalee with the lack in detail; yet she decided not to pry. She certainly didn't appreciate people prying at her for her secrets. It wasn't often but it did happen.

Lenalee noticed Allen wandering off suddenly; she quickly ran up behind him. "Where are you going?" she questioned, raising her left brow.

Allen lifted a hand, pointing a finger over to the direction of a radiating glow. "The market." Continuing his way over, curiously taking a look over at most anything interesting he passed, the two of them ambled side by side, like two good friends would. Lenalee was hardly ever far behind him whenever he sped up, accompanying him or telling him about everything they saw, as she seemed to know almost_ everything_ about the market and the gardens. Visiting every night, Lenalee could see something and say everything about it. It almost tired Allen out completely listening to all that information.

For almost an hour they roamed the small town, talking and appreciating the scenery surrounding them, constantly stopping to look at an interesting object they found around the market or even an interesting pebble on the ground, and then kicking it along the pathways like they did before.

Throughout this time, Lenalee felt embarrassed, thinking she was always making a fool of herself, but in the end she laughed it off, realising Allen didn't care if she said or did something stupid. He seemed to like her the way she was. In reality, Lenalee was in fact acting like anybody else; yet she'd never known that was how people reacted.

"This is probably the best fun I've had in… ages." Lenalee remarked, when she decided to make her way back home.

"That's good to hear." Allen smiled.

"Don't suppose I'd happen to see you around tomorrow either?" she wondered, knowing the answer would probably be a negative.

Like she predicted, the white haired boy shook his head, letting his hair fall out of place and back into place again. "No, probably not."

Lenalee shrugged, not showing that she was a little disappointed. "It was fun while it lasted." She hummed, as she realised she was already at the door to the outside of her apartment. She made her way up the few steps to the door, while Allen stayed on the pathway.

An awkward silence suffocated Lenalee for a moment after, unsure of what she should say. Was goodbye 'forever' too inappropriate?...

"Well… I … It's been nice to have some company… so…" She rambled quietly, feeling unsure whilst twiddling her fingers. She felt a rush of heat burn up her spine, embarrassment and awkwardness to follow.

Her stammering was abruptly interrupted when Allen stepped up a few steps, tilting his head up just underneath the timid girls face, briefly pressing his lips up against her right cheek softly. Lenalee could only stand there, feet firmly planted into the concrete, feeling chills go down her spine; she wondered why on earth anybody would even try that with _her_.

After momentarily brushing his lips against her cheek, he fell back onto the bottom step, with a little grin, still looking up at her.

"Um… I… Thank you." She murmured shyly, managing to muster up a little grin in return.

'_Thank you?... Oh my gosh…' _Lenalee mentally kicked herself for that, and she felt as though she would for years on end.

Allen did not reply, but merely smiled before leaving as Lenalee waved pathetically, watching him walk away. Words couldn't describe the feelings she experienced in that moment; they were probably 'trivial' to anybody else, but to her, a girl with no hope of living beyond 20, those sorts of moments would surely be hard to come by in such little time…

She had to treasure and savour the moments them as they came to her.

**ooo**

HOORAH FOR CHEESY! ;D I love cheesiness. But I hate actual cheese :| …. Just saying :D

Well… Ciao!


	4. Chapter 4: Everchanging

Hello! ^_^ I'm back with chapter 4 ;D

Thank you for the reviews and favorites :) (but not you bella! xD you didn't actually even read mine ;D)

Oh, and to who pointed out the 'Fake Flattery' line, oops… that was just an example of my bad editing :'D I was gonna say something else but changed it and left 'fake' in there xD thanks for pointing it out~ and thank you for all the advice! :)

**ooo**

Chapter 4 – Everchanging

"Hello Nii-san!" Lenalee chimed out, walking through the door dumping her bag on the nearest chair. Komui was on a couch, reading the newspaper and holding a mug in his right hand.

"My, my, Lenalee, you're awfully effervescent tonight." Komui commented, looking up behind him.

'_Effer-what?...' _Lenalee thought, while taking a guess as to its meaning.

"I am?... oh." She shrugged before heading over to her bed; yet Komui stopped her.

"Lenalee- hang on one moment." He called up over the newspaper, pulling her back into the other room. She took a seat on the couch, realising very soon that Komui wanted to talk to her seriously. She hoped to god it was not a lecture about boys, marriage and _other_ things, but even Lenalee could tell that it was probably more than that; or so she suspected at least.

"What... what is it Nii-san?" She stammered, anxiously leaning closer towards the couch Komui was sitting on.

"I talked to Central Administration; and they say they can't afford for me to continue coming back here." He began, watching Lenalee's expression become that of a horrified one.

She started to feel herself tremble all over, heart fluttering, eyes burning and feeling so numb with anxiety she could hardly think. How could he leave her for good? How could Central do that to her?

"Nii-san I don't-" Lenalee stuttered. "Are you going to leave me?" She whimpered, trying to hold back tears welling in her eyes, but it was so hard to without feeling that ache in the back of her throat.

Komui instantly began to wave his hands in front of his face. "No, Lenalee! Of course not! I asked Central if you could move to the Black Order." He blurted rather suddenly, shocking Lenalee a little.

Move? To the Order? Was that even _allowed_? So she had the choice to live in special care or with her brother at the Order? All these questions racing through her head troubled her; Lenalee didn't think it was a smart call to make. She began to chew at her fingers with anxiety.

"Nii-san—I don't think I could though! That would take a lot of preparation and precautions of … of extraordinary measures and there's no way I could avoid sunlight like that." She argued, shaking her head with confusion.

"Fear not, my Lenalee. I've already begun such preparations!" he snapped his fingers, laughing proudly at how genius (he _thought_) his ideas were.

Komui had asked especially for the science department to put up the screens over all of the main windows, for which he was probably not on the good side of most of his co-workers any longer. In fact, it was more as though that he _begged_ Central to agree to his terms.

"Lenalee, it's the only way right now." He said frowning. "And you know I will always be prepared. I will always protect my dear little Lenalee!" He cried out overconfidently, pushing himself right off the couch. In the meantime, Lenalee massaged her temples, embarrassed by her brother and his sister complex. She _almost_ felt lucky she wasn't seen with him by anybody in broad day light.

"So... I have to go... Do I have any choice?" She asked with a small sigh. It _was_ her home, after all. It may not have been too much, but it was. It was the only place she really knew anyway- moving away from that entire routine would make her feel out of place and lonesome again. The last thing she wanted was missing the old things.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. But this is the only way I can ever see you." He exhaled. "But… I'll…. Understand if you stay behind." Komui snivelled beginning to sob with his crocodile tears, while Lenalee just lowered her eyebrows, glaring at him. He wasn't too good at manipulation... but his blubbering drove Lenalee insane. This most likely caused him to believe he was a master at manipulation, while really he was just annoying enough to get anybody to do what he wanted.

"Nii-san, of course I'll go! It's just that... I've never really been anywhere else." She hummed gently kneeling beside Komui, placing a hand upon his shoulder.

"Then it's settled! I'm off to inform Central!" He cried out quite enthusiastically, rushing out of the room. Lenalee felt as though she were abandoned in a cloud of imaginary dust left by Komui as she sped out the door to the nearest telephone.

She breathed out, with a small smile on her face. As long as she could be with her brother she didn't mind moving.

The one thing Lenalee did consider to be good about this was the chance to meet new people. Hoping she wouldn't completely make a fool of herself like she always did when introducing herself to, or interacting with or around people. It wasn't one of her best skills.

**ooo**

Back at the Order, the science department had been preparing every window necessary to make sure no UV rays could come in, and very few actually knew why. It was a mystery to just about everyone else.

"How many more windows?..." One of the Science Department members wailed.

"Quit complaining, Johnny. The Supervisor said _every_ window necessary." A man called Reever snapped.

"Yeah, well what counts as '_every window neccesary'_?" Another complained, just finishing up on installing another screen.

Standing in a corridor, a redheaded young man noticed them all bickering while putting up odd screens against the windows. He ruffled his hair a bit, confused by it all.

"Man… what are they _doing…?_" he wondered aloud, looking around to see more people doing so. Suddenly the white headed boy, none other than Allen walked up beside him, about to ask that very same question.

"Lavi, what's going on? What's with all the screens?" Allen asked, scratching his head puzzled. They were standing about, watching others placing up more screens, and putting up more odd things that looked like precautions to be taken, for something; the question they wanted to hear the answer for is what exactly?

"Well, if it isn't Moyashi … I have no idea… it's really unusual." He muttered, when suddenly, something in his mind clicked. "Hey, did you hear about Komui? He's bringing his sister to live at the order." He said, snapping his fingers.

"His _sister_? Is that even allowed?" Allen asked, raising an eyebrow at Lavi. "And what, do you think that has something to do with the screens and precautions?"

Lavi shrugged, continuing to walk along the corridors with Allen. "I don't know. It _might_, but I just remembered, that's all."

"Maybe Komui is up to no good with one of his shenanigans again…" Allen grunted, both boys then exhaling in remembrance of the _last_ time Komui did an experiment of some kind. It was so like him to do crazy experiments that would ruin everybody's day one way or another.

"Remember when—"

"I don't want to know. Please don't remind me." Allen groaned, continuing through the halls.

"I wonder if Komui's sister is cute." Lavi laughed mischievously, nudging at Allen's rib. Allen glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"Don't even try it, Lavi." Allen muttered under his breath, glowering over at Lavi from the corner of his eyes. "She's 'Don't go there' territory. Knowing Komui, he'll make us pledge allegiance to preserving the purity of his sister or something insane like that… he's pretty eccentric after all." Allen shuddered at the thought. He wouldn't be one bit surprised if his sister were just some nut job, like Komui.

"He's _Komui_ that way." The Junior bookman patted Allen on the back hard, "But I know, I'm just kidding." He laughed, even though Allen had serious doubts Lavi was _actually_… He was no chronic womanizer like his Master, but Lavi sure had a knack for becoming infatuated with the _wrong_ kind of girls. All the time.

"Yeah, well at least you have _morals_…" Allen mumbled, as he rolled his eyes the other way.

"I do?" Lavi asked jokingly.

"I think I'm a lesser man for just _knowing_ you." Allen's eye twitched just a bit, avoiding eye contact with the mischievous red head.

"That is if you're a man at all." Lavi teased, poking Allen in the shoulder.

"Hah… that's funny… very funny, Lavi. Hilarious…" he muttered quite unamused, lowering his eyebrows.

It seemed as though Lavi enjoyed spending his time making Allen's life a misery with all their jokes and throwing verbal punches at one another. Allen simply accepted it as a form of... affection. After all, he'd learned that maybe how his _master_ had treated him was a form of affection, though quite cruel and unusual. He was open to just about any form affect now.

**ooo**

"Nii-san… are we nearly there? The sun will be up in 4 hours!" Lenalee complained, anxiously looking up at the station's clock. They were in the middle of their travels to the Black Order's Headquarters and it was nearly 2 am already.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lenalee! Of _course_ we'll be there soon." He nervously laughed, also beginning to feel worried. How much trouble would he be in if they couldn't make it before 5 am? A lot.

Lenalee sniffed a bit, lowering her eye brows. "…If you say so." She muttered. It wasn't as though her_ life_ was on the line if they weren't or anything…

They were currently awaiting the arrival of their next train. It was good that Lenalee lived rather close to the Order, so Komui could visit every so often. It was just a mere inconvenience to everybody else though. They didn't have to travel too far, but with the way Komui was, they had to leave straight away to make sure they would reach it in time.

"Don't worry Lenalee," Komui began, noticing his little sisters anxiety and distress. He gave her a warm, comforting smile as they sat on a bench. "Everything will be alright." He reassured her with a pat on the back.

'_I hope…_' He was curled up in a corner of his mind, knees tucked beneath his chin, sweating like a pig, twiddling his thumbs. Typical.

Instead, Lenalee tried to think of all the positive thoughts she could, returning a heart melting smile back to him. Although deep down, she couldn't understand the fluttering in her chest, the tight pulling this way and that inside of her stomach or the dizziness that accompanied it all.

She was hoping that everything would fall into place and start making sense to her, but the pieces wouldn't just assemble themselves. In the meantime, she would just shut her eyes and keep reminding herself that everything would be okay in the end; even though these were merely temporary fixes to drown out the truth.

After being deep in thought, Lenalee snapped back into consciousness as the train pulled up, her brother shaking her. She smiled and nodded, as the two of them entered the train together.

Lenalee took her seat in one of the carraiges before realising something she'd forgotten to ask Komui.

"Nii-san? I still don't know what the Black Order is." All through her life, she wasn't allowed to be entrusted with any information on the Black Order. Komui occasionally cracked, accidentally slipping something out by accident, but definitely not enough to give away what the Order did.

Komui hummed in thinking of what to say to explain. "Hmmmmm…. Shall I quote Central Administration's definition or use my own?" He wondered.

"The Black Order is religious organization, united to defeat demons." He said trying to leave out all of the jargon.

Lenalee blinked. "That's it?"

"_What's _it?" Komui huffed angrily. "We work hard to make sure demons don't harm you or eat you in your sleep! We do God's work to smite and rid the earth of demons!" He hissed at a very puzzled Lenalee. She knew what demons were- she'd heard about them but never really believed they existed until she'd heard strange rumours of disappearances and destroyed towns, thought to be the cause by a Demon's hand.

"Calm down, Nii-san. I just thought there'd be a little more to it, that's all." She defended. "And I _know_ that demons don't actually _eat_ you…" she muttered with folded arms, turning towards the window.

"Nii-san?" she wondered, turning to see her brother already fast asleep against the window. "That Komui…" she shook her head. "One moment he's steaming at me like a train engine and the next he's asleep, drooling..."

**ooo**

Woah, it's been a while, in comparison to my other chapters being updated. But that's cause this chapter was fairly short and I wanted to make it a _little_ more lengthy without forcing unnecessary information into it.

But, chapter 5 is done already~ :) so you can expect that up fairly soon ^_^ hope you enjoyed.


	5. Chapter 5: Everything Has Changed

Ohayo~ hope you're all having a nice week~

Here is chapter 5, which I spent a lot of time trying to make 'good', and pray that it flows well unlike my previous attempts at this chapter :'D

A quick note to someone: Yes, XP (Xeroderma Pigmentosum) _is_ a real condition and it's quite rare. There's not much on it on the net and hardly any information available else where, but I'll try and be as accurate as I can when writing this ^^; I've done my research haha

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

**ooo**

Chapter 5 – Everything Has Changed

With only an hour to spare, Lenalee and Komui had made it in one piece to the Black order. Lenalee had pictured it a little different- not quite as tall and… a little smaller. She gaped up at it in awe, leaving her with vertigo- she'd never personally seen such a large place in her entire _life_…

"Wow…" She whispered softly under her breath. Komui enjoyed seeing his litter sister's reactions to everything new to her. It somehow amused him.

Lenalee wandered off ahead of Komui, intrigued by everything she saw before her. The architecture really fascinated her, yet she wandered a little too far, approaching the gate quickly.

"Um… Lenalee…" Komui tried to stop Lenalee but it was too late.

A deep bellowing voice roared right in Lenalee's face as she approached, "Who goes there?" it thundered, terrifying poor Lenalee half to death.

"AH!" she squealed, falling back into Komui.

"It's alright. She's with me." Komui said, and simply at that, the large black doors were opened for her.

Lenalee could still hear her heart throbbing out of terror and surprise, pounding in her head, unable to hear anything else. It was absolute _madness!_ What a ridiculous way to keep a gate! However, she dared not question it, as it seemed to be working thus far… but it sure probably scared everyone new to it.

Even so, she and her brother continued forward into the building; it made Lenalee feel even more nervous than ever.

Entering, she'd never seen such a large hall- it was dark and gloomy and had that kind of medieval architecture. There were large pillars and arches on both left and right sides of the hall, and guards standing in between each of them.

She was so lost in her own world while looking around that she bumped into her brother's side.

"Come, Lenalee. I'll show you around the places to can go during the daytime." Komui said, taking her hand and pulling her along.

She was shown around the science department, and introduced to many of Komui's colleagues, but she felt bad when she had trouble remembering them all. Lenalee felt safer in the Science department than any other place she'd been shown, because there were no windows in there. It was a bit scary for her to be out by the windows. It was as though she didn't trust that she'd be safe, even after all the preparation the Science department did for her. Lenalee felt childish, only liking her windows.

Needless to say, everyone was a little shocked by Lenalee- expecting more of a crazy person, rather than a normal looking girl who behaved nothing like her basket case of a brother, with all sorts of quirks.

"So Lenalee, have you met any of the Exorcists yet?" Reever asked her. She just stood there, confused. Komui hadn't really told her much other than that the Black Order was a religious organization, but nothing of the so called Exorcists.

"Exorcists?" she wondered, cheeks becoming flushed with embarrassment. She wouldn't have met them anyway- They were meant to be asleep… but the Science department was always awake.

"Eh, It's 6 o clock in the damn morning. I guess you wouldn't have anyway." Reever shrugged.

Just before the sun was about to rise into a bright orange daybreak, Lenalee was showed to her new room. To say the least, she was slightly disappointed that she'd given up her comfort at home. Her bedroom was meant to be her haven- her safe place to go. But in the Order, it was dark and made of bricks and rather cold. It made it seem harder to be a haven.

"Not exactly like home… but I'll get used to it…" She mumbled to herself. She didn't want to come across like she was complaining, after all everyone had done for her.

Lenalee decided that she would sleep in her new bed; she was exhausted from her traveling all in one night and absolutely needed to have a rest before anything else.

Closing her eyes, and imagining her own walls and sheets, and pretending she was in her own bed at home, Lenalee curled up and tried to sleep. It was a little bit hard to when the sun was shining through, the gleam right in her eyes; and that she didn't trust that the windows had been made safe for her.

She might as well just get used to it… it was her life from then on.

**ooo**

"Lenalee?" The sudden chiming of sprightly voice pierced the young girls ears as she snapped into and upright position from her bed. There was a knocking on her door, beckoning her outside.

Lenalee looked over to see if there was a clock anywhere, but there wasn't. The window told her it that it was late dusk, the sky growing into a navy colour and the first stars appearing with their luminescent white glow.

"Lenaleeeee? You should come and have dinner." The voice said, Lenalee recognising it to be her brother's voice.

"I- I'll be out in a minute-" she called out, trying to gather herself together, putting on shoes and making herself a little more presentable. Lenalee felt a little reluctant to go to dinner. For one, she wasn't even very hungry- Komui's dinner was more like _breakfast_ for Lenalee anyway, and she didn't want to be around quite so many people at once. She just wasn't used to it at all, being a shy child with no social life what so ever.

Komui led her up to a large room with tables and quite a number of people, all sitting, chatting and eating their dinners, all made by the chef Jeryy, who Komui made out to be a master cook. Unfortunately for poor Lenalee, Komui had to return to work.

"But-! _Nii-san!..._" She whined, hesitant to be left all by her lonesome in a room full of strangers.

Not to be mistaken of course, Komui didn't want to leave her alone either… not in a room full of _men_, anyway.

"Hmmmmmmm….." Komui scoped out the room with squinted eyes behind glasses on the end of his nose. As if Lenalee didn't feel humiliated enough; now she had an older brother trying to pick out people he felt _'appropriate'_ for her to sit with.

"Aha!" he clapped his hands together, looking over to a rather dark looking woman standing in line to order her food. She had no eyebrows, wavy brown shoulder length hair and black rings around her eyes, like a raccoon around her eyes. "Lenalee, go sit with Miranda." Komui ordered his very tentative sister.

Lenalee inspected the woman from afar... it didn't take much to tell she was suffering from lack of confidence, and… quite possibly clumsiness as well. Lenalee didn't not see this as a bad thing per se- she saw a lot of herself in Miranda in just one glance.

She didn't look back as she walked over into the line next to this 'Miranda' person, who in fact noticed that she was 'new' so to speak.

"Oh- Hello!" She bowed slightly as she greeted Lenalee, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Miranda Lotto." She spoke politely, like she always did to everyone, no matter how well they knew each other. Lenalee smiled at the woman, and nodded back in acknowledgement."

"I'm Lenalee Lee." She returned her name to Miranda.

"Are you and Exorcist—I mean!...Are you new here?" Miranda wondered, seeming rather nervous. She came across to Lenalee as the sort of person who had severe boundary issues all her life and was constantly worried about offending someone somehow.

"Well... I'm new… but I'm not an Exorcist…" Lenalee laughed anxiously around her, wondering how to explain her situation in a simple enough way to avoid questions. Luckily, Miranda seemed as though she didn't like to pry—she was far too polite by the sound of things.

"Oh! I see." Miranda exclaimed.

"What about you? Are you an Exorcist?" Lenalee wondered curiously.

Miranda nodded in response. "Yes, but I'm fairly new to it."

"Well at least we can be newcomers together, I guess." Lenalee smiled warmly, before noticing something odd out of the corner of her eye. Quickly, she glanced over in the directions of a great stack of plates and behind them all, a boy with spiky white hair, and a distinguishing blood red marking on his face.

"No way…" she breathed, eyes widened. This wasn't exactly great news… she instantly turned away when she saw Allen about to look up from his many dirty plates of food. She prayed he wouldn't recognise her, but she already knew it was too late, from the split second they made that little moment of shocked eye contact.

**ooo**

Allen gaped in disbelief when he noticed who he thought he could see. What on earth was she _doing_ here? She couldn't possibly be an exorcist- she would have recognised him 3 nights ago, by his uniform; In fact, she would have known just by seeing the Rose Cross emblem.

Suddenly, Lavi interjected after flicking Allen on his forehead, who let out a small grunt in pain. "Hey… Hey!... What's the matter?" he asked, raising a brow at Allen who had finally snapped out of his daze.

He tried to relax his face into a less 'surprised' expression before proceeding to tell Lavi he was absolutely 'fine'. "It's… N-Nothing…!" He stammered before burying his face into another dish as he wolfed it all down, almost choking.

He just knew if he'd said anything to Lavi, he'd never hear the end of it.

Lavi stared intensely at Allen with narrowed eyes, as though trying to stare at him until he broke. Lavi's eyes trailed up to where Allen's eyes were previously looking, and his gaze snapped up to find a young lady appearing to be _trying_ to stand behind Miranda.

"Woah! Who is _that?_" Lavi beamed wide eyed, raising his eyebrows. Lavi was in just another one his moments; Allen gave Lavi an unimpressed frown as if to say _'Really, Lavi? Really?'_

"Lavi… Your mouth is hanging open." Allen kept eating, whilst closing Lavi's jaw with his free hand.

Lavi grunted, shifting away from the boy, "Allen, you're a killjoy. You must be the only guy who doesn't notice cute girls."

'_Oh, I do.'_ Allen thought to himself.

"Isn't there a _war_ going on _somewhere_ that needs recording…?" Allen muttered, glowering at Lavi with eyes like freshly sharpened daggers.

Lavi let out a sigh, standing from his seat. "Yeah, I suppose that old Panda's looking for me…"

"So go." Allen prompted, shoving Lavi away from him. He noticed Lavi eyeing Lenalee the entire time until he'd left the room. "Hmph… _skeeze_." Allen muttered, returning to his meal. Lavi was Lavi though, and that's how it was.

**ooo**

Momentarily after receiving her food from Jerry, Miranda was able to take a record breaking 3 steps before tripping over an unevenly laid brick in the ground, sending her and her plate flying above the two, nearly landing on them both.

Lenalee instantly knelt down beside her to offer her help standing up. "Miranda! Are you alright?"

Miranda nodded, propping herself up off of the ground. "I'm terribly sorry, Lenalee-san!" Miranda started wimpering, only confusing Lenalee.

"Why are you sorry?" Lenalee wondered with a soft smile.

"My clumsiness is a danger to everyone around me! I'm such a nuisance!" Miranda wailed dramatically; forcing a small giggle out of Lenalee. Miranda's weeping was abruptly interrupted when she noticed Lenalee laughing softly.

"Miranda, it's fine!" Lenalee said with a rather charming smile, helping Miranda stand. "Why don't you just go order your food again, okay?"

With that, Lenalee peeked over to the table covered with a mountain of dishes in the subtlest way she could, noticing Allen quite _unsubtly_ ducking behind his barrier of crockery.

Tempted to go to the table, yet wishing to stay away, she felt torn between choosing. However, she decided to utterly disregard Komui's orders to stay away from any boys while Miranda ordered again. Lenalee decided to suck it up and go over there. They'd be talking at some point one way or another. As Lenalee approached him, Allen realised this as well.

"Somebody recently told me you shouldn't sit by yourself." Lenalee said, standing beside the table, managing to get a very small chuckle out of Allen. "Are you an Exorcist?" Lenalee continued, shoving some empty dishes aside, placing her plate down on the table top.

"Yeah," Allen nodded. "You're not an Exorcist, are you?" He asked.

"Why?… Do I look like I'm not an Exorcist?" She asked, seating herself across from Allen. She realised that was why he wore such an unusual uniform those days back.

Allen frowned confusedly, pulling his head back a little. "I'm… not sure how to answer that." He nervously laughed. "It's just that… you would probably have recognised my uniform the other night." He shrugged, taking a bite of his meal.

"Probably right," She mumbled, picking out a piece of chicken from her Stir-fry. "… I'm not an Exorcist here… or… anywhere, I mean." She continued, confirming Allen's suspicions. "I didn't even really know what an Exorcist was until this morning."

"Then what brings you here?" Allen finally looked up making eye contact with Lenalee.

She didn't want to mention specifics, naturally; however she thought it would be safe to mention her brother.

"I came here to live with my brother. He's head of the Science Department…"

And thus, Allen was screwed.

It was as though a boulder the size of Jupiter had suddenly fallen from above, with 'Komui' engraved into it, squishing Allen. He simply sat there, dropping his fork onto his plate. Allen didn't notice his eyes twitching, but Lenalee certainly did.

"…Do you know him?" She wondered, putting down her own fork. Was he so terrible to them too?...

Did Allen _know_ him? How could he _not_…?

"K-Komui, you mean?…Yeah… I do." He whispered, breaking eye contact. Lenalee realised that Komui's crazy antics were certainly not limited to home… they were infesting the work place too it seemed, scaring everyone around. She took a 'wild' guess that Allen had met Komurins 1 through to at least 6.

Allen could hardly continue eating properly without breaking into a cold sweat over the thought of Komui finding out about him and Lenalee 3 days ago… Komui would _castrate_ him if he found out.

"… Is everything alright? You look pale." Lenalee pointed out, slightly reaching across the table.

"Peachy," Allen faked a smile, quite obvious to Lenalee for that matter, "…Just… dandy."

'_Is he really that bad? Here too?'_ Lenalee sighed to herself. She would need to have a nice long chat with Komui.

"…I think I might go have seconds." Allen yawned, pushing his newest empty dish aside.

Lenalee dropped her jaw, shocked at how much he'd managed as it was. Did he _really_ need more?

"_Seconds? _Wow, Allen you have quite an appetite." She gawked in amazement, almost tempted to count how many plates and bowls of food he'd gotten through. "Impressive… I never knew such a tiny person could eat so much in one hit."

'…_Tiny…?'_ Allen's eyebrow twitched.

However, instead of barking at Lenalee like he did to anyone who labelled him as small, Allen merely blinked. "…Lenalee, your mouth is hanging open." He muttered through his gritted teeth. Like with Lavi, he reached across the table suddenly, gently nudging her jaw back up.

Lenalee leaned back in her chair, shifting her eyes a little. She could feel a strange sensation in her chest- like her heart was a butterfly, but she could feel every beat down in the very depths of her being. A feeling of anxiety she couldn't really understand herself. "Well… It's nice to see you again, Allen…" She murmured, poking at the last of her dinner.

"You too." Allen smiled.

"I have to go find my brother." She thought that Komui would want her to find him after she was done. But what if he was busy enough with work? Should she just go back to her bedroom?

"Do you need help finding him?" Allen asked, sort of hoping she would say no. He didn't want to be seen with her, by him. Allen just knew he'd assume the worst. He also hoped Lenalee would say nothing about already meeting him.

Lenalee shook her head gently. "No. I think I can manage."

Lenalee removed herself from the table, picking up her plate. "…I don't suppose you'd like some help bringing over your dishes?" She offered with a little giggle.

"No thanks. I think I can manage." Allen said, glancing up at the stacks of bowls.

"If you say so." Lenalee giggled, walking off. She loved how small Allen was next to the mountain of dishes.

**ooo**

Hope you enjoyed it :) now just to get another couple of chapters ready so i can continue~ D (i like to have at least 3 chapters done before i can upload a chapter... this was a special case though |: )

PS: Emily-chan, stop calling me Allen-kun! ;P haha … pfft fine, you can, but I know it won't last long :P


	6. Chapter 6: Coffee Rounds

Yay! :3 chapter 6 ;D I was going to go straight into everything from here, but I felt it wouldn't progress as well with other characters around if Lenalee hadn't gotten to know some of them first or hung around them for a little. So, this chapter is mostly used for Lenalee to meet and get to know about more of the others~ (hehe, Kanda's first appearance :D)

This chapter was going to be soooo different, and Kanda's first appearance was going to be so different too, and not _nearly_ as fun for me to write. Plus it was out of character and didn't flow…. So really, im so glad I decided to completely scrap the chapter and start fresh! :D

I don't know why exactly, but I love writing with the three boys, and how they're always throwing verbal punches at each other and how they all react.

I hope you enjoy C:

**ooo**

Chapter 6 – Coffee Rounds

In the end, Lenalee had just chosen to return to her room and leave Komui to work (or slack off) peacefully. She just continued to read a book for a few long, lonely hours. Barely even paying attention to what the book read, she was only thinking about how lonely every one of her nights would be if she stayed nocturnal. When she was awake, everyone would be asleep, and she would have nobody with her.

She abandoned the book suddenly, realising it was still only 9 pm. "Maybe I could go get Nii-san some coffee." She thought, resolving to go back to the kitchen.

On her way, Lenalee noticed everything looked the same around her. The cracks on the walls, the doors- everything. She dreaded the thought of being lost in that labyrinth. How could _anyone_ find their way around?

Arriving at the Kitchen, she noticed Allen coming in the opposite direction, as though about to leave. She felt as though she was being followed or something, and gave an awkward smile to him.

"What are you doing?" Allen wondered approaching closer to the Lenalee.

"I was going to save my brother the trouble of a trip here to get his coffee." She said with a giggle, "You?"

"…I got hungry again." He sighed, then clenching his stomach with a very bummed out look. Lenalee simply stared in shock. How the heck could one person eat so much? Was it actually possible to fit that much into a single stomach? What confused her even more was how he was so slim and fit, even after eating so much.

Allen ended up waiting for Lenalee to get the coffee for Komui, as Lenalee had already forgotten how to find the science department. Of course, Allen wasn't thrilled to be making an appearance in the same room as Lenalee in the presence of Komui, but Allen was far too much of a gentleman to refuse her. Or anyone for that matter. Lenalee didn't strike Allen as the kind to take 'no' for an answer with these things.

"Oh, Lenalee? I don't suppose you'd mind taking coffee for everyone else, would you? Thank you, darling!" Jerry chimed, not even waiting for Lenalee's response, even though Lenalee wouldn't refuse either. She would happily bring coffee for everybody else.

"Do you want help carrying it?" Allen offered, holding out a hand to the tray of mugs filled with steaming hot coffee.

Lenalee nodded, halving the amount of mugs onto a second tray for her to carry. "Yes, thank you."

**ooo**

"Nii-saaaan…" Lenalee called out, searching among the tall stacks of books for her brother. She found herself having to be fully aware of books and papers lying on the ground, and watch out for people walking by, and make sure the coffee didn't spill. Her senses had never been more active at one time!

"Nii-san!" she called out again, a little more frustration in her voice. "Excuse me… where's the supervisor's desk?" She decided to ask someone; everybody in the room without glancing up from their work, instantly pointed over to a lonely desk, hidden by papers, and even scattered on the floor, paper, paper, paper, everywhere.

Lenalee cringed, pulling a horrified face. "Nii-san…" she groaned, embarrassed to be related to such a slob. The two both approached the desk, to find the supervisor behind a fort of books. He was pretending he was hard at work, when really he was sleeping like a little baby.

"Nii-san! Have you no shame? This room is absolutely abhorrent, and I won't stand to live here like this in a sea of paper and books!" She scolded angrily, yet her brother didn't budge. Still asleep. "Nii-san!" Lenalee grunted, still furious at how her brother had turned the Science department into one great big cat's litter tray with so much paper lining the floor that it could hardly be seen.

"Oh… Lenalee… what are you doing here?" Komui mumbled suddenly, rubbing his eyes.

"We brought everyone Coffee." Lenalee said, holding out a tray with Komui's very own Bunny mug.

He made a cheeky grin, but it didn't last long before he made a sour face. "Allen… what are _you_ doing here… with my Lenalee…?" he narrowed his eyes at the very nervous Allen.

"N-Nothing! I just offered to help her bring the coffee down here." Allen backed away, shaking his head defensively.

"…That'd _better_ be _all_ it was." He hissed; Lenalee just rolled her eyes in humiliation. Allen gulped in a panic.

"And Nii-san," Lenalee began, to put both Allen and Komui to ease, "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to help you all clean out this mess. It's gross…" She glared at Komui, who seemed absolutely delighted to have his coffee brought to him, but not so much about the cleaning.

"It's not gross! It's homey_!_" Komui insisted, pouting.

"…yeah…more like _homely_." She stuck out her tongue in utter disgust. "But I'm still cleaning it out whether you like it or not…"

"Lenalee, you're a saint!" Komui beamed elated.

"I'm not finished yet, so don't you _dare_ make me come back to police this jungle gym." She seethed storming off to give everybody else their mug. Allen and Komui briefly exchanged worried looks, unaware that Lenalee could be quite so fierce.

Allen swiftly turned only to find himself 3 inches from the red headed 'skeeze' known as Lavi, trying to dodge one another, and exactly 1 step away from spilling all of the coffee.

"Hey, watch it!" Allen cried out.

"Oh, Sorry Moyashi." Lavi sighed, thankful they didn't collide. His eyes briefly widened upon noticing Lenalee with him.

"It's _Allen_…" He seethed, blood boiling in his veins.

"Are you two alright?" Lenalee interjected, almost literally stepping between them. As Lenalee turned to Allen, Lavi began to point at her behind her back, mouthing something to Allen along the lines of '_What's going on!'. _He appeared rather shocked that Allen _did_ know her after all.

"Yeah, we're fine." Allen nodded, trying to ignore Lavi who now pointing at himself frantically. "Oh, and Lenalee, this is Lavi. He's training to become a Bookman." Allen introduced reluctantly.

Lenalee smiled and nodded, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Lenalee." She greeted. She had no idea what on earth a Bookman was but for simplicity's sake, didn't ask questions. "Allen, we should get the coffee to everyone else now or it'll get cold. Cold coffee makes for cranky scientists." Lenalee said, walking off.

Allen nodded, "Yeah. I'll be there in a minute." He called over to her before she disappeared into the next room. He knew Lavi was going to say something to him.

"I thought you said you didn't _know _her." Lavi squinted at Allen suspiciously, inching his eyes closer to his.

"For your information, Casanova, I didn't say _anything_." Allen muttered, stepping aside to walk past Lavi.

"Well it was implied! And you said yourself she was _'Don't go there'_ territory, you hypocrite!" Lavi wailed, flailing his arms about childishly.

Allen sighed in frustration; however would he be able to explain how he now knew that he thought he didn't know somebody he did actually know without even knowing it? It just gave him a massive headache.

"Well it's _very_ complicated, and I can't talk now. I'm _busy_!" He hissed at Lavi, turning to walk backwards.

Turning back the right way around, he found himself yet again bumping straight into a tall man with long navy hair, grunting as the two only just managed to stop themselves from becoming entangled on the floor with coffee spilled everywhere.

"_Coffee duty,_ Moyashi? That's really pathetic." A monotonous voice scorned in Allen's general direction.

"Ugh… _why_ is this my evening…?" Allen growled under his breath, staring up at the tall person from beneath his brows.

Lenalee groaned upon hearing Allen caught up in another predicament. "Allen, stop bumping into people!" She scolded, not noticing the tall man before Allen.

"Moyashi, get that away from me. I can't stand the smell of that repulsive crap." The stoic man hissed, looking directly down on Allen and the array of mugs, who seemed to be perspiring more than unusual now.

'_You can't stand anything…'_ Allen thought, glaring upwards at the coffee-hater.

"Don't like coffee?" Lenalee asked the tall Japanese man, who simply walked off.

"Che. Whatever…" He muttered. Lenalee frowned, thinking that it was hardly a response at all.

Lavi just sighed walking up beside Lenalee. "That's Kanda. He's very _shy_." Lavi explained to Lenalee quite blatantly in front of him.

Kanda's eye twitched in utter annoyance, and he steamed with irritation and anger. "Shut up, Baka-Usagi." Kanda snapped at Lavi. How dare that moronic rabbit call him shy?

"You see, he refuses to deal with the real human emotion he's actually feeling, so he just pretends it isn't even there and then takes it out on us later." Lavi said to Lenalee, causing Kanda blow a gasket like usual.

"Just shut the hell up!" Kanda barked viciously. Poor Lenalee felt so awkward standing between all three of them at once, just observing the conversation.

"Sheesh… How long do I have to be here before you insert a bug up my ass…? You're _all_ so cranky." Allen sighed placing the tray of mugs onto one of the tables just in case he somehow managed to bump into somebody _else_.

"I'm _not _CRANKY!" Kanda shouted, just one more comment about his temperament short of unsheathing his Mugen and pulling it against 'Moyashi and the God damned Bunny's' throats.

"You just need a hammer to the head to set you right again." Allen mumbled, just soft enough so Kanda wouldn't hear.

"That can be arranged…" Lavi grunted.

Reever entered, along with some others following behind him all carrying large boxes and books upon books, all looking especially heavy. "Can you three girls stop bitching for a second and help us out?"

This of course silenced all three of them as they began to help in moving the boxes. Lavi claimed that they were just slack and that the boxes weren't even that heavy, but in retrospect he needed Allen to help him move that one box he was carrying.

"When you're done with that, you can have some Coffee if you'd like." Lenalee interrupted, catching the attention of them all. In a department that got less than 5 hours of sleep a night (or even a week if they tried), coffee was their saviour.

"Thanks Lenalee." Everyone there found it much more convenient when their coffee was brought to them, and none of them needed to stop working to retrieve it.

Lenalee seemed to feel satisfied bringing everyone a hot drink, feeling like she could be useful around the order if she just tried, even if she wasn't doing the fighting like the Exorcists or researching like the Scientists. Even the smallest gestures could mean a lot in the end (Even though offering to help clean the messiest place in the entire Order was a rather big, bold, brave and even _dangerous_ move). Bringing drinks to the workers was something she had enjoyed for that reason, and to actually make sure her brother wasn't up to no good of course.

Lenalee hated the thought of saying cheesy and cliché things, but it seemed to her that the order was just like a family- even though they all got on each other nerves all the times, it was apparent that they all cared deeply for each other (although Lenalee was still reserving judgement on that when it came to Kanda). She in fact wondered if brothers acted this way towards each other, or if those three considered each other to be somewhat like brothers. Whether those three realised it or not, they did seem to act like brothers would, and them completely denying that fact would only further validate the claim.

'_Will I become part of it?'_ She asked herself.

**ooo**

WEEEEE!~ that was so much fun to write. But now I'll be getting more into the plot now that Lenalee's gotten to know some of the others…

*Cheesy TV voice* On the next chapter of The Sun and the Moon: will Lenalee confront her fear of the sun? Will Komui get over the fact that Lenalee actually has guy friends now? (-O.o shocker, I know) Will Allen find out about Lenalee's condition? (Not a chance, buddy-boy.)… Find out on the **next** Chapter~ Chapter 7: Phobia

This add brought to you by … …. *crickets chirp* … er… nevermind. Nye, I suck at improv C:

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it ^_^


	7. Chapter 7: Phobia

_EDIT: Some of you may know that Fanficiton has been down for a while now, so jsut abotu NOBODY can update anything unless we change the internet adress thing. so that why i havent been able to update in ages :'D im SO sorry about that! ANYWAY..._

HI! It's been a long time, hasn't it! D: Well, I was having trouble with this chapter. I couldn't think of anything to write Dx ironically, this is gonna be one LONG, LONG chapter :| I just kept writing and writing afterwards!

But to anyone interested, during my writers block I began to write a small story for D. Gray-Man, which I might upload soon :D

It's called 'The Portrait of D. Gray' (And if you know how I thought of the title, you'll get what sort of elements I put in the story ;D and possibly some ideas in it (and I'll give you a virtual cookie) so if you're interested, look out for it :)

Hope this chapters okay ^^ the start's more serious but towards the end I put in the obligatory fanfic awkward scene, along with a nice toture-Allen session ^_^

**ooo**

Chapter 7 – Phobia

That night, Lenalee was tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Of course she knew it would be hard to attempt adjusting to a diurnal body clock in one night, but she never expected it to be so hard. She had always just gone with what time she woke up, and what time she was tired, having no sense of what time 'late' was precisely.

It had to be 2 o clock, she thought. She felt like it had been at least 5 hours since she had tried to sleep; and it was exceptionally hard to sleep since she had just woken up from a 12 hour sleep at 6 o clock. There was no way in heaven or earth she could use enough energy in a few hours to make her tired enough to fall asleep.

She told Komui to make sure she was awake throughout the day the next morning, because she wanted to change her body clock to be like everyone else's. She didn't want to somehow let it get out to everyone that she was actually nocturnal.

"This is ridiculous!" she groaned, turning over to face the wall. Normally one would become cranky from not getting enough sleep, but for Lenalee at that time, she was cranky for getting far _too much_ sleep if anything. What just angered her even more was that now she couldn't even go outside anymore- not even at night- what on earth could she do in the night time hours while everyone was sleeping? She'd be refined to a creepy old tower for the rest of her life! What had she been thinking?

**ooo**

"Oh, Lenalee?" Komui called, knocking on her door. "It's 7 o clock. Time for you to wake up." Komui informed her, just like he promised when Lenalee asked him to come get her in the morning.

"I'm already awake…" she grumbled, tossing her pillow aside and rolling out of bed onto the cold stone floor.

She dressed herself, feeling ready and not so refreshed for the new day. Lenalee approached the door and slowly reached out for the door knob. As her hand neared closer to the handle, it began to shake uncontrollably. She felt as though her heart was frozen for that moment, no blood able to pump to her body, no way for her hand to move. Her feet wouldn't move a step closer, only backing further away from the door until she bumped into the back of her bed.

"Lenalee? Are you coming out or not?" Komui called out impatiently, tapping his foot.

"Um… I'm… I think I'll just stay in here, okay?" Lenalee stammered from behind the door. No way was she leaving her room. Not anymore.

"What? Lenalee, why?" He asked her, stepping closer to the door.

Lenalee only sat silently, hugging her knees as she sat beside the end of her bed. She wasn't coming out for anything now; not when she didn't even feel safe enough to walk out of her own door. She knew it, and she knew it well, it was all in her head. She knew that the entire order had been made safe for her to wander about in, but she just didn't believe it somewhere in the back of her mind. She didn't believe she could walk out and about without coming into contact with UV rays against her skin. Nothing felt right anymore.

"Nii-san… I'll be alright, just leave me here." She told him, even though he absolutely refused to leave her alone.

"What? Lenalee, are you worried about the windows? Is that what this is about? I assure you it's completely safe!" He tried, however didn't succeed.

Walking down the corridors side by side, both Lavi and Allen could hear the supervisor making some sort of groaning noise, out of annoyance it would seem. Curious, both of them wandered down 2 levels only to notice a strange sight: Komui leaning against a door, on his knees as though desperately trying to eavesdrop or something.

"I'm surprised you don't have a shot glass pressed up against that door." Lavi scoffed, approaching Komui closer.

"Yeah… what exactly are you doing here, Komui?" Allen wondered, scratching his head.

Komui glared at the both of them defensively, as though protecting the door with Lenalee behind it. "I could ask you the same question, Allen. What are _you_ doing here?" He hissed.

Allen looked at Lavi briefly before looking back to Komui. "Um… I live here… 2 floors up."

"…Oh. That's right." Komui shrugged, continuing to try and shoo them away.

"What, did you lose some spare change under the door or something?" Lavi joked, folding his arms.

Suddenly from behind the door, a little voice snapped. "I'm not coming out, Nii-san. Just go away—I might come out later." It was then Komui realised his cover had been blown- Lenalee was in fact behind the door.

"Lenalee?" Lavi and Allen both looked at one another. "Is she alright?"

"I'm sorry; my sister is Heliophobic, so please excuse her." Komui said monotonously getting off of his knees, gesturing them to go away. Lavi and Allen scratched their heads bewilderedly. They didn't even know what Heliophobia was.

"I'm not a Heliophobe, _Komui._" Lenalee retorted viciously behind the door.

"…I wouldn't be too sure about that." Komui shrugged to himself before feeling a massive thump against the door, presumably Lenalee's foot as she struck the door, almost making Komui deaf in his right ear.

"Lenalee?" a gentle voice called for her. She recognised it not as her brothers, but a friend's voice.

"Lavi? Allen?" She wondered softly, lifting her head from her knees.

"Are you okay?" Lavi asked. Komui narrowed his eyes at the two of them; wishing they would just go away. He knew how important it was to Lenalee to have her privacy in this matter.

"Oh—it's… nothing. I'm just not feeling too well, that's all." She lied blatantly. All of them knew that doubt was evidently lacing her voice.

Allen stepped closer to the door, pressing an ear to it. "Can you come out? It's okay." He tried to calm her down, help her out, even though he wasn't sure how he could. None of them actually believe she was feeling sick. He continued to lead against the door, awaiting a response from her. In the meantime beneath him, Komui gave Allen a death glare.

'_How dare he address my little sister, Lenalee?'_ Komui grumbled in his mind.

There was no response to be heard. Allen exhaled, unsure how to proceed. He glanced up at Lavi, who just shrugged. Hell if _he_ knew how to deal with a girl who wouldn't come out of her room for god knows what reason.

"Or would you let me _in_? I could help you." He offered; an idea which Komui instantly shot down like a duck blasted out of the sky by a hunter.

"No!" Komui hissed, Allen rolling his eyes.

"… I mean _us_. Can you let _us_ in? W_e_ could help." He tried, yet Lenalee remained firm.

Lavi suddenly leaned up against the door as well. "Yeah Lenalee, it'll be alright." He said. Komui just scoffed at the two of them.

"I appreciate your concern, but this is a family matter and for lack of a more polite term, _none_ of your business." Komui snapped, glaring at the two of them. Lenalee just hated hearing her brother so upset. She felt so dreadful seeing Komui get angry at Lavi and Allen who were only wanting to help, because Komui was trying to protect her. It didn't seem right or fair at all.

In the end, all three of them were only trying to help Lenalee, yet Komui was doing so in a way that involved not allowing anyone else to help. She didn't want Komui to be pulling all of her burden along.

"N-No… Nii-san, It's okay. I can come out I think… I'll try, I mean…" she stammered, leaning forward to try and get back up on her feet. If Komui was going to verbally roughhouse with others over _her_ problems, it wasn't worth staying in her room, no matter how much she wanted to stay. She stood by the door for a good minute, waiting for herself to get over the vertigo she was feeling. She was finally able to open the door, and leave.

Lenalee turned bright red with humiliation, embarrassed by all of the fuss she had created. She felt so selfish then, only thinking of herself and not how her brother would have felt or worried for her.

"I'm sorry about that…" She mumbled to her feet, looking away from them.

None of them minded, knowing she was alright, but Komui was frustrated that Lavi and Allen seemed to have been sticking to Lenalee like Velcro the entire time she was at the Order. The last thing he wanted was his little Lenalee being tainted by the lowlife-Exorcist and/or Bookman. He tried everything he could to separate them, yet it always seemed to magically fail, and only to make Lenalee happier.

"Say, Lenalee. Do you mind bringing us Coffee when you come back down to the Science Department?" Komui suggested, trying to pry the three apart. Lenalee was constantly being cautious as she walked around, staying in shadows as much as she could. She was so focused on her surroundings and staying away from the windows that she nearly didn't pay any attention to Komui.

"Oh, of course, Nii-san." She smiled briefly.

"We can help out." Lavi offered, much to further Komui's aggravation. Inside, he was tearing out his hair and stomping on his favourite beret, and then sobbing on the floor mourning the death of his favourite beret after jumping madly on it.

"…No-… I mean, don't you two have _missions_?" Komui sighed, frustrated.

Lavi and Allen glanced at each other with raised eye brows. "… Not that we're aware… it's our day off isn't it…?" Lavi said, feeling suspicious.

"… Yes… it would seem so." Komui sighed. Those two would _never_ leave his dear Lenalee alone now. Of course, Komui was always one of the most eccentric, nut-job of a scientist anyone would come across, doing more harm than good everywhere he stepped and leaving behind trails of emotional carnage behind him (courtesy of Komurins 1-twenty-something) scarring everyone in more ways that just one, but the way he treated everyone when they were hanging around Lenalee was getting just ridiculous. He was rude, angry, over protective and downright pushy.

In fact, Lavi wasn't sure if he was more shocked about how protective Komui was of Lenalee, or the fact that he hadn't _yet_ whipped out a remote control for some machine to exterminate people who got close to her. He seemed to be dealing with everyone in a surprisingly mature (and humane) manner for once…

Lenalee's patience for Komui was growing thin, and yet she managed to deal with Komui in a mature manner as well.

"Well, in that case… we'll see you downstairs, then." Komui spoke before heading off, as though trying to hide the fact that he was annoyed, but unfortunately for him, he was as transparent as cellophane when it came to his love for Lenalee.

"What's the matter with _him_?" Lavi wondered, relieved that Komui had finally left. He felt very uneasy around Komui while he was in that state of mind.

"He's just really… protective." Lenalee sighed.

"You don't say." Allen shrugged, before turning to make his way to the kitchen along with the others.

**ooo**

"I'm really… beginning to regret saying I'd clean this up." Lenalee exhaled deeply, upon arriving in the Science Department to see that it has amazingly become even messier than the previous night. How was it even possible?

"We told you so. Look, if the Science guys can deal with it I'm sure it's fine." Lavi shrugged, ironically before immediately tripping over a stack of books he didn't notice in front of him.

"…You didn't say _anything_!..." She insisted, helping Lavi back his feet. Komui must have been trying to drive Lenalee off again, and prevent her from cleaning his 'homey' mess.

"You know Komui- He likes his mess where it _is_." Allen sighed, as he shoved paper aside with his foot to clear a path way. Even so, the floor couldn't be seen.

"Well, he's not getting the best of _this_ girl." She grunted determined to free the Science Department of Komui's wrath. She stomped off to the storage room, hauling a box of papers Komui had 'sorted' for her.

Allen helped bring in another 5 boxes or so, but noticed Lenalee missing from the room on his next trip. "Lenalee?... Where'd you go?" Allen wondered, turning to every corner of the room with Lenalee nowhere to be seen. He scratched his head, perplexed by her swift disappearance.

"Lenalee… where are you?" He called again, scoping the empty room.

"… I'm in here." A voice murmured, coming from inside one of the tall closets nearby.

In a closet? What was she up to? "…Lenalee…?... What are you doing…?" Allen approached closer to the door, wondering if Lenalee was going to do a rerun of that morning's drama.

The truth was Lenalee was panicking again. Upon feeling the warmth of the sun against her skin, after it had come out from behind clouds it beamed on her. She couldn't stand that heat, with that feeling of stinging—it was as though she could _feel_ the UV rays, just burning into her skin like acid. Everything she feared was all in her head—she knew that the windows were safe. She knew it, but she couldn't find a way to convince herself it was true. All Lenalee wanted was to feel safe, and curl up in the darkest place she could.

A closet.

A sudden electronic beep echoed through the room, and then a robotic voice to follow. "This room must be cleaned immediately. Immediately!"

Before he knew what was happening, Allen found himself being shoved in through the door by some sort of Machine. It had to be Komui's cleaning robot… why wasn't it in the storage room with all his _other_ failed experiements? And more importantly... Why did Komui _invent_ a _cleaning_ robot if he insisted that the mess was a good thing?

"Ow… Uh… Lenalee…?" Allen said, looking around in the dark.

"…Yes, Allen?" Lenalee replied innocently.

"… We're in a closet." He stated. Lenalee made no comment back. Allen had assumed she just nodded.

"…Lenalee…_Why_ are we in a closet?" He grunted, awkwardly trying to feel his way around the darkness to find a way out. He knew they were in trouble if there wasn't a handle to the outside.

"I don't know!" She snapped. She knew why _she_ was in there, but it wasn't as though Allen had exactly given her a "heads up" that he was going to be joining her.

"Well, one of Komui's damn retarded robots shoved me in…what's _your_ excuse?" He groaned, upon finding where the door opened, however the door wouldn't budge.

"Ow! Allen, that was my foot!..."

"Sorry!"

"What was that?"

"That was _my_ foot."

"Oh."

"Can you move a little?... No, the other way I mean."

"What are you _doing?_"

As they bickered, Allen frantically began to push at the door harder, hitting it until his wrists hurt. "Are we stuck?" Lenalee squealed hysterically in a panic.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Allen asked, heaving against the door. He found it hard to believe a claustrophobe would willingly hide in a closet.

"No, but I don't want be stuck in a closet _either!_" She shrieked right in Allen's ear.

"Don't worry, I'll get us out." He said as a bright light began to radiate from what seemed to look like his left arm to Lenalee. She gaped in awe as the arm took the form of long claws, like a jester. Without hesitation and no desire to be locked in a closet any longer, he tried to swing his arm at the door without harming Lenalee.

"Ow!" Both cried out upon tumbling through the blown down doorway, Allen falling right on top of Lenalee's frail body, who was then crushed beneath him. Their cheeks turned a blazing bright red, upon noticing their faces only an inch apart.

"Um… Sorry." Allen laughed nervously, about to roll aside and off of poor Lenalee. As if they hadn't had enough bad luck, the door swung open in front of them before Allen could. Behind it appeared the very last person they wanted to see looking down upon them. Not like _that_. Definitely not like _that._

"Uh oh…" Allen grunted, looking wide eyed up at an ominous shadow looming over them, pointing in utter horror.

"AAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY LENALEE, YOU PERVERT?" A shrill voice shrieked in horror.

"K-Komui!- I swear this isn't—"

"YOUR ASS IS _MINE_. PREPARE TO DIE, WALKER! " Komui bellowed, finally whipping out a slim remote. Lenalee could only watch in utter terror as she finally saw Komui's overly protectiveness in action.

"KOMURIN THE 22ND! DESTORY WALKER! He laughed evilly, insanely pressing every button like it were a wack-a-mole. The wall directly behind Komui crumbled as a monstrous Robot charged through, preparing an array of various deadly and painful looking weapons.

Believing this was the cue to hastily make his exit, Allen (looking paler than ever) promptly rolled off of Lenalee and swiftly dashed off, but it was far too late. The room was tiny, and his space for running was only made tinier when giant sister-protecting-man-eating robots were present.

A massive arm lined with knives and other sharp and pointy objects was swung towards Allen, who dived to the side as it hit the ground leaving only rubble behind. Running as fast has his legs coudl carry him, he then made another dive as the robot's arm caught up to him, falling to the ground. The robot drew out a long and sharp ended pole, like a pike. Allen rolled to his right as it jabbed downwards at him; and then to his left as it jabbed again. The robot did this another 10 or so times before aiming right for Allen's head. He swiftly rolled forwards between Komurin's legs and ran for his dear life.

"Komui! Stop!" Allen cried out, sprinting like there was no tomorrow (or a 10-foot-killer-robot behind him) as the Komurin robot chased him, striking the ground behind him. It was terribly unfortunate for him that Komui was merciless and found joy in making other people's lives a misery. The robot cornered him, about to do god knows what to him.

"MUAHAHAHA! _MAKE ME!_" Komui glared evily, peering over the remote, following the boy aroudnt he room with his eyes. "Or get on you're knees and _beg!_"

"What? _NO!_" Allen refused, diving out of the way of another attack again. He was _not_ getting on his knees, especially not infront of Lenalee.

"Nii-San! That's enough!" Lenalee struck her brother over the head with a phone book she found in one of the boxes, in an attempt to stop Komui from murdering Allen. "You're stupid robot pushed us in the closet, trying to clean the room!" She scolded, snatching the remote from Komui's hands before he collapsed. It shattered as she threw it to the ground, and the killer-machine's attack grinded to a halt.

"Allen! Are you okay?" She called over as she ran to him.

"Still…intact…" he exhaled with utter relief. He was so shocked he was still hyperventilating.

"I'm so sorry!..." She tried to apologize, but she just didn't know what to say. Her brother's behaviour was absolutely appauling!

"It's okay, Lenalee…" he sighed, finally feeling his pulse slow down.

Reever then appeared from behind the crumbled wall, a surprised look on his face, yet, he was not so surprised. "Looks like the Supervisor was having a bit too much fun in here."

'Well _I_ certainly wasn't...' Allen grumbled in his head.

"Yeah…" Lenalee glared disgustedly at Komui, unconscious on the floor. "Just another thing for me to clean up…"

**ooo**

3000-and-something words later~… here we are… ISNT IT JUST SO FUN TO TORTURE CHARACTERS IN FANFICTION! :)

Hope you enjoyed it ^_^ Next chapter we might just find out what Hevlaska has to say about Lenalee!...

Ps, I calculated and planned it all out, and this fanfic will probably have between 17-20 chapters in it.

Until next time, amigos~ I'm off to make my crown clown mask now… *runs off*


	8. Chapter 8: When It Rains

Holy SHINTZEL BUNNIES! … Hi :3

Anyway, here is chapter 8 ;D …. Not much to say…otherwise… sorry it's late. I've been a) sick, b) lazy. And c) personal matters

So~ busy, busy times~ :'D sorry about the lazy part… the other two I hardly have any control over x_X not to mention I completely rewrote this chapter, as it rambled toooo much xD

But on a _really_ random note which I just thought of (because it's STINKING UP MY ROOM so I can't really think of much else), I'd just like to say that I have no idea how Allen deals with wearing his second uniform. (I have a cosplay of his 2nd uniform and it is the single most uncomfortable thing I've ever had the displeasure of wearing. IT GETS SO HOT WEARING IT! And it smells bad cause it's Pleather :'D and the smell lingers around the entire house and it sticks to you for days… even if you shower ,)

But other than that… Enjoy! :)

**ooo**

Chapter 8 – When It Rains

They were ghosts, blind and wandering through the endless darkness. Every one of them was. Everything about it frightened her, so much so that she could hardly swallow. Even so she still had yet to understand what it meant.

Lenalee had woken up in a cold sweat, feeling her heart beating faster than a race horse. Her fingers hurt from clenching her pillow so tightly, and yet she barely understood why she felt more sadness than anything else. She expected fear and anxiety, but nothing like this.

Uncontrollable tears began to well in her eyes, falling onto her pillow. She only wished to forget what she had seen, but it was too late. She didn't know what it meant.

But how could she ever know if she couldn't name those feelings?

**ooo**

"Oh… yes… that's very interesting… mm hmm. Yes…"

"Komui… I _know_ that there's nobody on the other end of the line." Reever raised a brow as he held up the telephones plug, pulled from its power point. Komui shifted his eyes momentarily before looking down on papers and pulling a quill out from just about nowhere. Reever swore he always had one in his coat with him—he had no idea where Komui kept keeping all of those pens otherwise.

"Well I have very important Documents to be writing." He sniffed, waving his hand at Reever, gesturing him to go away.

"Stop doodling bunnies, Supervisor. I need you to sign this; it'll only take a second." Reever sighed irritably.

Komui looked up blankly at the sheet Reever had shoved in front of his face, blinking at it like it meant nothing. Komui rolled his eyes, snatching the paper and furiously signing it like a mad man. Handing it back, he swivelled to the right on his chair, arms folded.

"Thanks, Komui." Reever said, Komui nodding proudly. "… Now can you sign all those too?" Reever directed Komui's gaze over to a 3 foot stack of papers waiting to be signed. He remained silent, again blinking at the miniature mountain. Without a sound, he stood from his chair and leisurely walked off, coffee mug in hand.

"Later." He hummed, taking a sip from his cup.

"Komui! Where are you off to? You can't go disappearing now- we've got work to do." Reever called out to Komui who was at the door by this point. However, it was all with good reason. For once.

"Hevlaska requested to speak with me." He explained, before heading off. Of course, it'd take speaking to Hevlaska _herself_ to convince Reever that Komui was telling the truth. Komui often had to visit Hevlaska for work related issues, including new recruits to the order and mandatory (and surprise) Innocence checks. Those times were always a blast- nothing quite like the horrified faces of Exorcists to be, picked up by Hevlaska herself as she evaluated their synchronization, bringing a smile to everyone's face except for the recruit's.

Hevlaska had not mentioned what she wanted to speak with Komui about yet, making Komui slightly suspicious. However, he felt like there should be no problems- Hevlaska would let him know if it were urgent or of high importance.

He finally was able to see Hevlaska, after going down to the lower levels of the Headquarters where she resided. This, giving off a gloomy, dark aura certainly didn't help newcomers feel any better or any safer unfortunately. However, to Komui, this was all part of the fun.

"You wanted to speak with me, Hevlaska?" He asked, beginning to feel rather nervous as he looked up to see the tall serpent like exorcist looming over him.

"Komui, I'm aware that your sister, Lenalee, has come to live at the order recently. That's right isn't it?" Hevlaska asked. Komui nodded, extremely puzzled. What did that have to do with anything? Unless Hevlaska was against it somehow.

"…Yes, that's right. She's been here a bit over a week now," He explained, rather uneasily. "Hevlaska—I don't understand what's-"

"There is an Innocence that I hold within me, that has been reacting ever since she arrived." She explained, Komui's eyes widening.

Lenalee? A Host? There was just no way.

"I believe it is Lenalee who is the accommodator for this Innocence," She explained, "However, I am aware that she would be deemed unfit for the job of an Exorcist, knowing of her condition…"

Komui knew exactly what Hevlaska was asking, and he knew precisely on what his answer would be, and there would be no questions asked. Whether or not he was being told this as the Supervisor, or as Lenalee's older brother, his answer remained the same.

"No." Komui spoke clearly, upwards to Hevlaska. She didn't appear shocked, feeling quite confident that Lenalee was in too poor of a state to be an Exorcist.

"Is there really any point? If she can't be exposed to sunlight, there's no point." He continued, firm in his response. "She's frail enough as it is, and it would only make her burden that much heavier."

Although it could be considered a waste of Innocence by anybody else, specifically Central Administration, Hevlaska did agree with Komui. She even decided it best to keep Central Administation uninformed and ignorant about it. If they knew, they would never stop bothering Lenalee about it, and they would see to it that Lenalee were made into an Exorcist no matter the cost. It was apparent that they saw Exorcists as tools for Akuma elimination. There were only so many potential Exorcists out there.

"I don't suppose you will tell Lenalee, Supervisor?" She wondered.

Tell her? That would be almost the same kind of burden. She would constantly be guilt-ridden until she felt it was her duty to become an instrument of God to destroy demons like all of the others. And it wasn't just for her sake- Even if she were physically able to perform exorcism; he couldn't bear the thought of being the one to send his little sister to battle. For Komui, it would be almost the same as handing her a death sentence. Komui was most certainly _not_ going to be telling Lenalee of this.

"No… I don't think she should know." He said, looking down.

**ooo**

Lelanee lay still in her bed, awake and staring at the ceiling. She was constantly replaying every moment of that dream she had that night, and yet all she wanted was to forget it and let it go; but playing it on repeat just kept bothering her.

She spoke to herself, saying everything she saw in hopes of making it smaller and insignificant. Often she found herself realising how trivial a bad dream was if she realised how little sense it all actually made. Being stuck in a snow globe for instance? It may not sound scary from the outside but if you were dreaming that, maybe you'd have a different opinion on the matter.

Even after repeatedly going over every last detail, the dream remained just as horrible. It was like a bad cold she couldn't shake off.

Slowly, Lenalee pulled off her sheets and sat up on the side of her bed. In that one week, she'd managed to ignore the sunlights glow and warmth that beamed down onto her each and every morning. At first it was terribly nerve-racking, but she'd opted to suck it up and deal with it.

After dragging her feet every step of the way to the dining hall, she ordered and took a seat on a nearby table that was rather empty. It was difficult for her to focus on eating when all she could think about was such an off-putting and disturbingly horrifying dream. It was a good 5 minutes of a staring contest between her breakfast and herself before realising she, herself, was being looked at by the stoic samurai seated somewhat further away from Lenalee on the other side of the table. She hadn't noticed him as she sat herself down before- he was just so silent and still all the time. Did that mean she was thinking of him more as a part of the chair, or table?

Lenalee glanced up at him only to turn the other way upon seeing his ice cold eyes narrowed at her. She had no idea whether or not to speak. He wouldn't say anything to anyone though. She hadn't known him long but she knew he didn't exactly 'talk' to anyone because he wanted to. He struck her as the type who only ever talked because he had to.

A cheeky voice sudden came chiming in from behind Lenalee. "Well, well, if it isn't the Black Order's resident asshole. How's it going, Yu?" She turned to see Lavi, approaching them.

Kanda simply answered with a death glare and one of his typical grunts. "Don't call me that. Just shut up… che…" he grumbled, glaring at his lunch. To Lenalee, it looked like he was making conversation with or just talking to his Soba. Or just talking _at_ his Soba, but she decided not to point it out. Kanda had a short enough fuse as it was.

"Oh… you saved us seats, Kanda? How thoughtful. Thanks." Allen teased, taking a seat across from Lenalee and Lavi, and finally dumping his dishes onto the table. It was a rather bold move, since Kanda was the one with a sword at his right side, ready to be unsheathed any second. Lenalee could just tell that Kanda was imagining piking their heads with his Katana, or perhaps a chair leg. That'd be one hell of a splinter.

"Like hell I'd save _you_ seats." Kanda seethed, hatred dripping from his disdainful voice. Lenalee giggled at them, and at the way they were acting again, like they usually did… brotherly, but just a little bit more abusively, that is. Of course, none of them believed that they sounded like they were related.

"What?" Allen hummed upon noticing Lenalee giggle.

"Oh!... uh… it's nothing." She mumbled.

"She probably just finds Yu amusing." Lavi shrugged.

"You people make my food taste bland." Kanda droned, glaring at Lavi with narrowed eyes. At that, Kanda stood up, with attitude as well.

"Where are you going?" Lenalee asked.

"How the hell am I supposed to eat with this frat party going on over here… che…" He picked up his plate and left immediately. As though nothing had just happened they all just continued to talk, Lenalee remained a little more silent. She appreciated their company, and she loved to be with them, but she could barely hear a thing with the sounds of unnatural gong like noises echoing through her ears, bringing her back to her night terror.

"… Are you going to eat that?" Allen suddenly asked, eyeing Lenalee's untouched meal. Lenalee immediately snapped back into reality. Lavi then kicked Allen beneath the table right in the shin, leaving Allen pulling a ridiculous sour face at a very confused Lenalee.

"…You okay?..." Lenalee asked, a bit puzzled.

"…Fantastic."

"Allen…" He muttered, shaking his head disapprovingly. "By the way, that was _me_." He then continued to whisper, Lenalee still unaware at what was happening. "Don't make off with her Lunch, Have you no shame?" He scolded.

'Have _you_?' Allen narrowed his eyes at Lavi.

Lenalee shook her head, trying to reassure the two it was fine. "No, no! Go ahead, have it." She insisted, pushing her plate over to Allen. It was only then that he noticed Lenalee hadn't _once_ touched her food even.

"Is something wrong, Lenalee?" Allen wondered with concern, placing his fork onto his plate.

Lenalee quickly looked up, as if she hadn't heard what was said to her. "Hm?" she hummed.

"Is everything okay?" He asked again, now that he had Lenalee's attention.

"Of course! I'm just… I'm full. That's all. So… _So_ full…" She faked a smile, literally as her stomach made a massive growl. Her inner self sighed as she clenched her stomach. "I think I'm going to go now." She said, standing from her seat.

Both Allen and Lavi looked down at Lenalee's plate, still full of food.

**ooo**

The lounge was perfect. There were no people around, it was peaceful and quiet and she liked it that way. From what she'd heard, the Lounge usually went pretty untouched all day, every day and hardly anybody went there. She lay down on one of the couches, tiredly staring into the empty space before her.

Lenalee just wished she could be outside, back at her home or in the park beneath the little glowing lights, hoping it would make everything better. She hadn't been outside in so long it began to eat away at her.

Her eyelids felt heavy, eyes becoming sore and her breathing slowing down as she dazed off into a tranquil state, blocking out everything around her.

She could then hear the eerie sounds of an echoing gong like sound pounding in her head, followed by soft sounds of waves lapping onto a shore and being pulled back out into a black sea.

She squirmed a little, tensing up in her eyelids in an attempt to open them again. It was abruptly disturbed by the thud of the door swinging open, slamming against the wall. It was an absolute explosion to her ears, awakening her senses as she shot up into an upright sitting position, looking everywhere to see whatever it was.

"Oh… there you are." Allen said, Lenalee realising he had been searching for her.

"Allen…!.. What are you doing here?" She asked, sitting up properly, almost straining her neck when turning to see him. He stood beside the couch Lenalee had been lying down on, by her left side.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay…" He said.

Lenalee let out a sigh, looking to her side. She was just angry she had nothing left to do any more. Her life had become nothing more than avoiding the sun and sleeping her days away. Now her life consisted of hiding things and hiding _from_ things.

"It's nothing… I'm just so bored… I can't go outside because I'm cooped up in here from now on." She mumbled, looking down at her knees.

Allen's face softened even more, in to a sympathetic look upon hearing it. He did realise that in the Headquarters, there was almost nowhere to go that lead to somewhere outside. Lenalee sighed, feeling as though she might just break down from lack of exposure to fresh air. She hadn't seen the outside world for over a week now.

Allen slowly nodded, deep in thought almost. "When you're feeling better, I'll show you something." He offered with a smile, warm enough to melt Lenalee on the inside, like butter on hot toast.

**ooo**

"Allen," Lenalee wheezed, "Where are we _going_?" Lenalee exhaled deeply, panting after at least 20 flights of stairs. She wasn't unfit or anything, but 20 levels was taking it a _bit_ too far for her.

"You'll see." He said smiling down at her. He was a fair bit further than her, yet always waited for Lenalee to catch up. Her weak legs were beginning to tire out, and she collapsed into the stairs, rubbing her sore calves.

"I can't do it… I'm really tired…" She mumbled, massaging her temples. She wasn't sure if this were good or bad. She supposed that it meant she was finally becoming diurnal like the rest of the world, getting over her napping in the day. Allen tilted his head, then making his way down the steps and sat beside her on the step above her, placing a hand upon her shoulder.

"Yes, you can." He assured her, helping her up as he stood. "And, if it gets too bad, I'll give you a lift." He offered.

Lenalee laughed a little bit, picturing her brother's reactions to such a thing. "You'll be in _big_ trouble if Komui finds out." Lenalee giggled nervously, making Allen fairly anxious himself about it.

"That's why we won't tell him…" He exhaled deeply, terrified at the thought of what Komui would do. "…Come on. It's not much further, I promise." He prompted as he took Lenalee's hand walking up the steps. The pain in Lenalee's legs lingered for a while, but slowly disappeared eventually. She had felt so happy to have a friend like Allen that it began to overshadow any pain she was in.

As they reached the higher levels of the tower, less and less rooms were used or there were hardly any even around. Finally, the two of them made it to the ending of the stairs, to find a trap door in the ceiling, with a small ladder bolted to the wall. Lenalee wondered how much free time and patience Allen must have had to have stumbled across a place like this. Did he just wonder what was at the end of the tower or something?

"We're here." Allen announced, proudly almost. You _would_ feel proud though, walking all those stairs.

"Um… Allen? … what's '_here_'?..." she questioned, tilting her head to the side, looking around to see gloomy dark brick walls, lined with cobwebs and dirt in between the cracks. How anti-climactic, indeed. There was absolutely nothing special about 'here'. Typically, he climbed a little way up the ladder, and gave the little trap door a push, until it was opened. After making his way through it, Allen looked down it as Lenalee walked directly beneath him, staring up past him. She couldn't see very much- only darkness with small glowing speckles.

A chilly wind softly grazed her skin, passing through the opening in the ceiling, causing her to feel nervous.

'Outside…?' she wondered curiously.

"Here." He held out a hand to her as she cautiously stepped up the little ladder, taking his hand. She took a moment to focus on getting through the trap door before looking around to see anything, pulling herself onto a cold stone floor.

Lenalee stood slowly brushing dirt off of her clothes, then tilting her head upwards to see Allen, who had moved forward slightly, turning around in her direction.

"Wow…" Lenalee gaped in awe, turning in all directions trying to take everything around her in. Above her, more stars than she had ever seen at one time shone luminously in the navy sky. There had to be hundreds of thousands in sight. In front of her, where the dark silhouette of Allen stood almost looming above her, she saw the glowing white moon and its light bouncing off onto the clouds, leaving them lined with silver and white.

"This is beautiful… I've never seen so many stars in my life!" She exclaimed, almost shaking her head in disbelief. The lights in her town always polluted the sky, hiding the stars all of the time.

"I thought that the lights in the park were pretty but… this is…" She stumbled, looking for the right word to use.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said, giving Lenalee a gentle smile. "When the clouds are low like tonight, the moon's light on them looks great. But it looks like rain clouds are coming… enjoy the clear sky while you can." Allen said, looking off into the distant sky where the dark clouds began to roll in. Walking around to the edge of the roof where a black metal balustrade lined the border, he placed a hand on the railing as he stared at the moon. Lenalee just kept staring up into the sky, gawking in wonder.

"Lenalee, your mouth is hanging open…" Allen spoke softly as he turned again, walking up towards her. She suddenly looked back down, forwards with Allen trying to gently nudge her jaw shut again. She gazed up into his silvery grey eyes being lit up by the moon's glow, feeling so small. Lenalee found it simply indescribable; feeling unbearable sadness, terrifying, soul-eating anxiety, and happiness that felt so wonderful that it could consume her being. None of it made sense. Especially upon being with these people, how was it that she could feel whole and worthwhile for once, yet feel so small and unimportant?

Lenalee shut her eyes as she looking away, recalling her dream, breaking away from all communication they just had. She didn't want a re-run of her dream; after her nightmare she couldn't bear to look into anybody's eyes.

"Lenalee, are you alright?" Allen asked, arching his eyebrows upwards a bit. He could read Lenalee like a book when something bothered her. She opened her mouth to speak, hoping to tell Allen about her dream, yet she remained silent.

"I… um…" She nodded unconvincingly. "Yeah, I'm fine... I love it up here, Allen. Thank you for showing me." She smiled, feeling something suddenly fall onto her left cheek. She tapped her cheek softly with her fingers, to wipe it away.

Another droplet landed on her hand, and then another onto her head. Before they knew it, drizzle turned into rain drenching them both. "… it's raining!" Lenalee cried out with excitement, trying to remember the last time she was out when it rained. She swiftly sprinted off, arms out in front of her, completely forgetting how her legs hurt before.

"Um… This is Europe… it does that here." He called over, hoping for her to wrap up her little dance in the rain, becoming soaked in the down pour. She simply continued to wallow about in the rain. "Lenalee… can we… go back…?" he called out again, still ignored.

**ooo**

"Hey, Allen, We have to—" Lavi called out to the white headed boy, appearing to be squeezing out his coat.

He stopped mid-sentence upon noticing the boy drenched. "… You're dripping wet." Lavi pointed a finger blatantly, watching as Allen squeezed his coat again, water dripping from it.

"That I am." Allen replied sarcastically, looking back up to Lavi.

Lavi breifly averted his gaze downwards at the puddle beneath Allen's feet. "…Why are you wet…?" He narrowed his eye at Allen, attempting to pry Allen right open.

"Not important…" Allen dismissed quickly with a shrug. "You had something to tell me?"

Lavi snickered as Allen gave one final twisting squeeze on his coat. "Went up to the roof with Lenalee, did you?" Lavi nudged Allen's ribcage.

Allen quickly swung his damp coat over his head and onto his shoulders, slapping Lavi across the face with it as he went. "What is it, Lavi?" Allen sighed, rolling his eyes as he pulled the sleeves over his arms.

"Ow…Oh, right. Komui wants to see us. He says he has a mission for us." Lavi informed, rubbing his cheek.

"Really?" Allen immediately looked up, eyes widened at the prospect of finally going on another mission again.

"No. I was _joking_." Lavi lowered his brow into a sardonic, unimpressed expression, Allen then relaying that same look back at Lavi shortly after.

"I mean, we haven't been assigned anything for over a _week_." Allen said, cringing in his cold and wet coat. "Isn't a lack of Akuma suspicious to you?... or Innocence fragments for that matter…"

"Hmm… True… Ow, Allen, what the _hell_ is with your coat? I feel like I was slapped by an angry lady." Lavi grumbled, beginning to walking along side Allen.

"Can we focus, please?" Allen groaned irritably.

"So, Moyashi… are you going to miss Lenalee while you're gone?" Lavi teased, poking Allen's shoulder.

"…Bye, Lavi."

**ooo**

Noooow we're finally getting' somewhere… I should think so at least.

Just to say though, Lenalee's nightmare is actually one I had recently, and I based her nightmare around mine. (Mine was ...about different people, let's say... :S I hate my stupid chronic nightmares .) however, you don't actually find out what she (or I) saw until later in the story~ Although last night I dreamed I was cosplaying Lavi. That was interesting.

WHAT?


	9. Chapter 9: This Conspiracy Against Me

That's so weird. I was expecting this to be a hard chapter to write, because in my 'plan' I only have one sentence written of things to happen in the chapter… and yet, I managed to expand on it as I went and it's become better than I'd hoped, considering all things :'D although I will say that last sorta section was… slightly unnecessary, but fun to write x)

And I just read the newest chapter of D. Gray-Man the other day! T_T OH MY GOD, WHYYYYYYYYYYYY? *spoiler alert* ALLEN, COME BACK HOME YOU WANKER. STOP BEING A NINNY AND RETURN TO THE ORDER. NOOOOOW.

*spoilers end here* I posted this full on rant after reading it :'D it was so sad T_T I was bawling out and crying like a bitch baby on those last two pages.

**ooo**

Chapter 9 – This Conspiracy Against Me

After a long night of heavy rain outside of the Headquarters, the sun shone brightly the very next morning. There was a faint glow in the gentle mist surrounding the bottom of the tower. However, this didn't bother Lenalee at all. She woke up bright and early untroubled by the light beaming against her skin.

She felt so happy with the world that morning, it was as though she had forgotten she was 'allergic' to the sun or felt pain in her legs from the night before, or that he brother had been acting oddly, or that she was still terrified of a dream she had. All of it was in another world at that moment, because that morning, Lenalee was in high spirits, with high confidence and high self-esteem. It had been so long since she'd felt like that.

After starting off her day with a nice and healthy breakfast, Lenalee's joyous mood was already vanishing as she had already noticed a vast majority of the finders and exorcists missing from the dining hall. Even though there were finders and exorcists missing on previous days, it seemed like a less noticeable change because today she had nobody to talk to. Lenalee ate alone that morning, unaware it would often be that way. The spark of that ecstatic mood she woke up to was already relinquishing, having nobody to share it with.

Alone yet again, Lenalee brought coffee to the Science Department who were working hard early in the morning like usual. It was particularly odd for her to not be able to talk to anybody on the way down. Where was everyone? Hardly anybody was around that she knew.

"Nii-san! Good morning." Lenalee beamed sprightly with was seemed like the final and dimming ember of the fire in her heart that morning, holding out the tray with Komui's coffee mug on it. Komui couldn't help but want to grin after seeing Lenalee seem so cheerful and bright.

"Good morning, Lenalee!" Komui chimed, accepting the coffee held out to him. "You're awfully chipper today." He stated.

"What's so awful about that?" Lenalee joked with a small giggle, placing the tray down. "Hey, Nii-san? Do you know where everyone is?" Lenalee wondered, recalling the emptiness of the halls.

Komui looked up from his paper work rolling his eyes over to the right hand corner as he thought. "Hmmmmmmmmmm… Who do you mean by _everyone?_" He wondered suspiciously, leaning very close in to Lenalee over his desk, getting right beneath her wide eyed face. He hadn't sent _that _many people off on missions surely, although he indeed knew who she was asking for.

Lenalee got the feeling that Komui was simply begging for her to say what he wanted to hear- or more so, what he didn't want to hear but wanted her to '_admit'_. To say that she was looking for _them_. "Oh, I was just wondering where Allen and Lavi had gone to…" Lenalee shrugged with a nervous smile.

That was when Komui's expression of cheeriness and joy grinded to a halt, much like Lenalee's, becoming a bored and uninterested look. "I'm afraid you missed them, Lenalee. They left early this morning to go to Istanbul." He said, swivelling his chair to the right, eyeing a piece of paperwork up and down. And that was the very moment, rather than letting that last glowing ember in her die, a bucket of cold water was dumped on the tiny orange cinder instead. It was absolutely unnecessary for sure, but it definitely did the job; put her fire right out.

Lenalee had absolutely no idea they were going to leave, but would Komui really tell her anyway? She doubted he would say a thing to her about it. She had seen the disdain and objectiveness towards Allen and Lavi Komui harboured- ever since he'd seen her hanging around them.

"Oh, I see." Lenalee spoke softly, attempting to sound alright. Although, she wasn't alright. She had seen it- the way Komui had acted oddly the night before. She tried to ignore it but it stuck in the back of her mind for a while.

**ooo**

"_Oh, Lenalee- … you're soaking wet." Komui uttered monotonously, inspecting his sister soaked in water._

_Lenalee laughed nervously- there wasn't exactly any way she could explain it. "Oh, hahaha… I was on the roof and it rained." She giggled, scratching the back of her head._

_Komui laughed unconvincingly as he seemed to play along with Lenalee like it was normal- but it just wasn't right to him. What was Lenalee doing on the roof anyway? Suddenly, from infront of Lenalee, a fair distance off, Komui saw both Lavi and Allen talking just outside of his office as they waited to be called in. He focused his gaze onto the white haired exorcist, hair wet and dripping onto his shoulders. He was abruptly interrupted as Lenalee shook his arm gently. _

"_Nii-san?" Komui instantly snapped back into a state of awareness, looking back down to his sister, looking up at him with an anxious face._

"…_Nii-san… Is something wrong?" Lenalee asked concerned, tilting her head._

"_Oh, nothing- You'd better get dried off, or you'll get a cold!" Komui urged Lenalee out of the room hurriedly, giving no time for Lenalee to say anything in response._

_Komui returned to his desk, retrieving the documents intended to be given to Lavi and Allen while informed them about their next mission. Clearing his throat, he leaned up against the front of his desk and called the two in._

**ooo**

"What's up with _Komui_?" Lavi wondered, tearing Allen's eyes away from the view outside the window of the train. It was rolling past beautiful, lush and green country side and it seemed to make Allen forget about the horrors he'd seen of Akuma and people grieving over their loved ones passing away.

"What do you mean?" Allen said acting surprised, as though he hadn't noticed Komui's behaviour.

Lavi gave Allen a stern look, leaving him feeling somewhat bothered by it. "Don't play dumb, Allen. He's acting like you killed his _goldfish_." Lavi said, looking out of the window too.

"Is… goldfish code for something?" Allen wondered, raising his brow at Lavi.

"Look…" Lavi sighed as he scratched the back of his head, "you're not a stupid person but right now you're acting like one." Allen frowned in disagreement, turning his head to gaze out of the window again. He looked over to Lavi out of the corner of his now cold seeming eyes. "Whatever you're doing that's annoying Komui, you'd better stop it soon before he makes another Komurin." He warned.

"Come on- you know he always keeps a spare anyway..." Allen scoffed, "…It's just … I don't think that I can." Allen mumbled to himself. He had given it some thought the day before, ultimately deciding that Komui's beef with Allen was because of how he and Lenalee were becoming closer as friends. He just had no clue why it was such a big deal.

"Is it… Lenalee?" Lavi tried, "Because you know what he's like when it comes to _her_." The two really lit up in the presence of one another, caring deeply about each other. It was apparent parents were out the picture, and Komui had taken over the role. It caused him to act like a parent would, protecting Lenalee, and feeling like the only one he could trust with Lenalee was himself.

"Lavi, it's _simple_- Komui's got jealous-brother syndrome." Allen snapped facing forwards again, "And why wouldn't he be?" Allen slumped in his seat, leaning against the window, "All his life, Lenalee's most likely been looking up to him, and being the one he could take care of. Now that _we're_ in the picture and being people who care for her, he probably feels replaced." and obsolete.

Lavi took a moment to process everything Allen had just said, whilst aligning it with everything he had seen. In theory it made sense, but he just didn't think it fit together as a whole.

"Allen…" Lavi said still thinking carefully, "You saw the way he looked at you yesterday, didn't you? That seemed like more than just a jealous brother. Komui's eccentric and well… obsessed with his sister but well… he's not the kind to get verbally abusive towards people. He seems scared." Lavi said, trying to force Allen to see the problem. Both of them where taken back to the moment they knew something was up.

**ooo**

"_Lavi, Allen; Come in."_

_Lavi entered first with Allen sheepishly cowering behind him. Both took a seat before Komui on the settee. _

"_Wet, Walker? What happened to you?" Komui interrogated, handing Allen a piece of paper to inform he and Lavi on their next assignment._

"_Uh… Sorry. I was on the roof… got caught in the rain…" Allen muttered, cautiously taking the piece of paper. Komui's eyes briefly widened, quickly glancing at Allen intently._

"_Is that so...?" Komui raised an eyebrow, squinting at Allen before turning his back to them, heading for his desk. He felt uneasy around Komui that night; it was easy to tell he was giving Allen the cold shoulder. Allen just wasn't sure why exactly. _

_The quiet grew to be murderous and suspenseful for Allen, who could feel Komui's eyes burning intensely as he glared at him. Lavi sat up, coughing to break the ice. "Ouch, that's a fair distance that we're travelling…"_

"…_Yes. There have been suspicious disappearances in the past few weeks that can be linked to Akuma infestation. Where there's Akuma involved, that can often be linked to an Innocence Fragments." Komui explained tiredly, having said these spiels many times before._

"_So this is more of an investigation?" Lavi presumed._

"_That's right. You should leave as soon as possible." _

**ooo**

"… Ah … yes. I think I see the problem." Allen sighed, placing his softly clenched fists on his knees.

Lavi nodded, "Exactly."

"But _why_, I mean! Why has Komui suddenly got this vendetta against me? He trusts me, doesn't he?" Allen exclaimed, holding out his hands. Lavi shifted his eyes to the left, lowering his eyebrows. "..._doesn't he...?_" he repeated.

"Maybe because you mounted his sister the other day?" Lavi suggested teasingly, causing Allen's cheeks to turn a bright crimson.

"_I did not!_" He retorted defensively, leaning forwards to Lavi who appeared to be having the time of his life making Allen blush. "We got stuck in a closet and then fell out! It's _not_ the same thing!"

"Oh, _sure_. If you say so." Lavi snickered, covering his mouth as he snorted with laughter.

"Lavi!" Allen screeched furiously, "I'm warning you…!" He seethed, pointing a finger at him.

"Well, whadd'ya know? I can make him turn red _and_ make his voice break." Lavi could hardly keep himself together with all the laughing he had going on.

"Oh, go to hell, Lavi." Allen sneered rolling his eyes, watching Lavi continue his laughing fit, "…And when you get there- go a little further."

**ooo**

Despite having a lack of anybody to talk to for most of her life, Lenalee felt the silence was becoming more and more disturbing each day they were away. She had just gotten used to having people with her for her meals- and she quite liked it that way now. She enjoyed counting with Lavi how many plates Allen could go through, or see what kind of weird and wacky new dishes he'd have Jerry to come up with. She also loved that despite their sarcasm wars, they could also have profound and in-depth talks about things they felt were important to them. And then at dinner, they'd see if Allen would beat his record of dishes he could devour from that morning. Sometimes other Exorcists would join in, and she would be able to make new friends.

Of course, she did enjoy talking with Komui and the rest of the science department as she helped them by clearing up, and bringing them their coffee. She found joy in helping other people in any way she could- even in the smallest ways; so long as she ended up helping them. All of it seemed to fill a 'gap' she had in her life; one she didn't know she had until it was filled. And the pieces that filled it were so small, too small to notice, that she didn't realize it until it was all right there in front of her. Now she could see it clearly, looming above her like a great big sign-board.

It had only been a week and a half, yet Lenalee had settled in enough to call it home. 'Home or something like that' she'd say. Each day she grew a little bit more to love the Order, especially since she now had somewhere to go outside at night.

While her other friends were gone, she made new ones and talked with people she'd not gotten to know well. Encounters with Miranda were always interesting- she'd manage to make her apologetically bow down in utter shame whilst expressing regret over the smallest things, and Lenalee always tried to assure Miranda it was okay. She'd met Krory as well, and played a game of chess with him a few times. Admittedly, Lenalee found Krory somewhat dark and gloomy in appearance and it frightened her some, but later learned that it was just a lid; a lid over a very big jar. He was just as naive about the world as she was; finding out he'd lived alone in a castle all his life, rarely leaving either. It was clear that she found it easy to relate, in this case.

"Nii-saaaaan…" Lenalee groaned irritated at Komui, who every time she cleared something away in his office, he would immediately after try and dump something there.

"Nii-san, You can't live in a pit like this forever!" She badgered him unceasingly, with the occasional punch in his back, all the while him complaining that he had no time for cleaning.

"A _pit?_ I resent that remark." He grumbled sticking his nose up, "I can, and I will!" He whined, then barricading his filthy desk with his on body.

"Nii-san! Move it, okay! Or do you want me to assemble the whole science department to move you? Because I will. And they'll listen." She threatened, stepping closer with her index finger pointed at him as he shook his head like a 4 year old throwing a tantrum.

"No! No, no, no! I won't do it! And neither will the department! I'm their _supervisor_!" Komui wailed pathetically.

Lenalee let out a sigh. "Okay then. You leave me with no choice." She said softly. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"No! I'll sit here and sing until your ears bleed!" Lenalee didn't particularly like the sound of that _at all_. Nobody needed to hear Komui's crass rendition of _I Can See Clearly Now_ that he'd come up with at 3 in the morning on a Christmas Eve 3 years ago after one too many eggnogs.

"You can't let me sort through the files myself, or I can get that Komurin with that _great_ _big_ vacuum to do it for me, and you can say good bye to all your pretty little files, got it?" she threatened, turning her head slightly whilst glaring up at her brother from beneath her brows.

"…You _wouldn't!_" He sniffed, hugging his desk tighter. Lenalee didn't even say anything, only continuing to stare at him that way.

"You sure?" She then uttered softly, as though she was dealing with a child (though frankly she felt like she was.). Komui stuck to his guns, refusing to budge.

"…Reever, get the vaccum." She called to the next room. She and Komui could have sworn they heard him laugh evilly to himself as he did so.

"NO! NO VACCUUM, NO VACCUUM!" He sobbed pathetically at her feet. Lenalee smiled cheekily.

"I knew you'd come through." She smiled sweetly, "So move it or lose it!" She may have looked sweet and adorable, but that was _her_ lid- over a _very_ large jar. Of evilness.

Though she was currently enjoying herself, in the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder what was up with Komui the other day. He didn't look like himself; he was cold and hard and indifferent. Now Komui seemed back to normal- like nothing had happened. Was it a lack of people surrounding her? Lenalee just couldn't get why Komui changed to be rude and distant around other people who came near her; even when their intentions were good.

It wouldn't stop banging away at her head.

**ooo**

I hope that was alright ^^

Okay, schools starting soon, so you know what that means. SLOW CHAPTERS T_T well not really. I know it's REALLY bad to, but I often work on fanfic before homework :'D a little leisure before work is nice… *cough* anyway. See you next time~ :D


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